This isn't the life I left you for
by ImFineAsLongAsNickJisOnMyMind
Summary: Mitchie starts over. She's married, and she's got a little girl named Riley. But not everything is as perfect as it seems. She must face her past to move on. STORY 1 OF 3 NOW COMPLETE! Part 2 has been started and Riley will be all grown up...go read!
1. Story One

**Story One**

**This Isn't The Life I Left You For**

**Written By Caley P.**

**(ImFineAsLongAsNickJisOnMyMind)**

Summary:

_Mitchie starts over. She's married, and she's got a little girl named Riley. But not everything is as perfect as it seems. She must face her past to move on._

**Please Review _**


	2. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I dont own any characters of Camp Rock but I do wish I owned JB...=[**

**A/N: oh well....hehe so anywho i got bored and I haven't writen a story in a very long time o I hope that you like this one. Please review!**

Prologue:

„Riley hide, go and hide!" Mitchie rushes her little toddler: "Hide so Daddy won't find you!" she hurries her on in her bedroom, opens her closet and puts her inside: "Be calm okay darling, don't say any word please, no matter what happens okay Darling?"

The little girl stars at her with big eyes, not really understanding what is going on. But the sound of her mother's voice is frantic, tells her to better follow these new rules. Mitchie nods as if she had realized that her daughter will play the game with her, at least she was hoping her little girl did understand and there wasn't much time left, she already hears his footsteps on the stairs.

She went to her bedroom instantly listening to his heavy breathing, thinking of how awful it would feel, how his breath smells when he'll kiss her. She wanted to puke right here and now. But she had to be brave, strong, for her little girl! Having him kiss her instead of her Riley was much better; having him hit her instead of her daughter as well. She realizes she was shaking and biting her lip nervously and for a brief second she asks herself where that brave girl was, she once had been.

But right then in that moment Thomas, her drunken husband, opened the door, freezing, realizing his wife was still up. "Mitchie!" he said thickly approaching her.

Mitchie backs away instantly: "Thomas you're drunk! Again…"

The man in front of her just laughs, his green eyes piercing into hers: "A man can drink Mitch, I can drink whenever I want to, and I can kiss you whenever I want to, I can do whatever pleases me, whenever I want to, remember!" he was now standing right in front of her, leaving her – enclosed from the wall and him – no way to escape. He reeks of beer and smoke; she wonders how much he had drunk this evening, this time, how much it needs to turn him into this.

Thomas Arlington was a nice, hardworking man, a loving husband and father. At least he used to be! It was her fault he had changed that much, that he was an alcoholic now, an abusing husband and father. She had destroyed everything, that's what he keeps telling her, that's what she believes, even though that one mistake she had made, had given her more joy than everything else in her life and for nothing in the world she would want to go back in time. She loves her little girl!

Partly she knew that she wasn't responsible for Thomas' drinking problem and she started to hate him for the things he did say to her and to their daughter, for the beating and kicking, the bruises and knobs.

But there was still that other part left in her, the one that loved the man he used to be and wanted him back so badly. There was a part that blamed her, made her feel guilty and responsible for everything he did. She had tried to talk to him at times when he hadn't been drinking, he had often admitted that he has a problem and after a long talk about the reasons he had promised to stop. He had promised they will become the family again they once had been…

But he never stopped, it just got worse as the months, years flew by…

Still Mitchie couldn't leave him, wanting to believe him every time he said he'd stop. She had cut down contact to all her former friends who had realized what was going on in her not so faultless home. She didn't like them telling her what she was supposed to do, as she knew that what she was doing was not making any sense, that it was destroying her and that it was bad for Riley as well. But every time she had made up her mind and thought she was ready to leave him, her heart told her otherwise.

But last night he had definitely crossed a line. Now she wouldn't stay any longer, not after what she had seen and she wouldn't let him touch Riley ever again, she wouldn't even let him get close to her… Thinking of the events of the other night she closes her eyes, smelling Thomas breath, feeling it on her face…

_flashback_

_She had been thirsty and went down to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Thomas still wasn't at home; at least that's what she believed. When she passed by the room of her daughter she heard his voice though and her daughter crying. Fear shot through her veins and she opened the door to Riley's room without making any noise. She hadn't been able to believe what she saw then, and the things he did... It was horrible, too horrible… He had been all over her, holding her down to the bed, hissing words like bitch and… She didn't even want to recall the words he had used for her daughter. He had slapped her, had touched her, kissed her brutally… A girl of four years, the girl who called him Daddy, how could one do such horrible things to his own daughter!_

Mitchie started shivering only by thinking of that night. It had only been yesterday but to see what he had done to Riley was what she needed to finally admit the truth: He would never stop drinking; he would never stop hurting her and especially never stop hurting their daughter!

As she now realized that he never looked at Riley that way, he never accepted her as his daughter even though he had promised her back when she was pregnant. The little girl always remembered him of her mistake, her unfaithfulness…


	3. Pain and Loss

Chapter 01:

He kissed her harshly, his lips crushing hers but there was no passion in it, it was purely brutal and demanding. Mitchie tried to push him away but even in his drunken state he was stronger than her. She pleaded him to stop it, she pleaded him to realize what he was doing but he wouldn't want to hear it. Instead he got angrier and even more demanding, pushing her away from the wall and onto the bed. Mitchie screamed surprised and fast she rolled away from him, before he had been able to get on top of her.

He growls frustrated: "Bitch!" he hisses at her but she doesn't care, not anymore!

No! She wouldn't let him hurt her any more, she already had paid enough for her mistake and her daughter had paid as well, even though she didn't do anything wrong.

Now pure anger shone from her eyes when she looked at him, and there was pity but she didn't blame herself any longer.

"I hate you and I am going to walk out of this house, I am going to get Riley and we'll leave you all alone here and never look back, you stepped over a line, I pleaded you to stop and you didn't and I hate you, I hate you for what you did to Riley, she's four, FOUR, how am I supposed to explain to her, what you did, she's four fucking years old, she didn't do anything wrong, she looks up at you, you're her father, no matter if the DNA matches or not, you're the one she calls Daddy and you should have been satisfied with that, after all my father was, but you, you son of a…!" she didn't finish, she was screaming at him in rage, but she just couldn't say what he had said to her daughter: "You do not deserve to be called Dad from anyone, not even your own kids if you're ever going to have some!" she ends, calmer than before.

Thomas just stood there, staring at her in surprise. He had never seen his wife this angry, this furious. But the surprise didn't hold back the anger that welled up in him and he started to spit out every curse he could remember in his drunken state, he screamed at her, he shouted, she just stood there and looked at him with this pitiful glance.

Calm, she turned around grabbed her bag and walked out of the room. But this time Thomas was prepared, he jumped and stumbled over to where she was standing, he pulled her back and hit her hard in the face. "You're staying!" he screamed at her.

Her nose started bleeding but she still looked at him with the same expression on her face: "You won't stop me!" she hissed, glaring at him.

He just hit her again and again but this time Mitchie didn't whimper, she didn't let out any sign of pain, she just took everything in, as in self punishment. That's what my daughter must have felt like last night', she thought and let him hit her again.

Suddenly a small voice disrupted Thomas' actions and he let go of Mitchie instantly. He made two steps and his arms were wrapped around the little girl who was standing in the meadow with her little stuffed rabbit in her left hand, clutching it fearfully. Mitchie got pale when she saw Thomas with her daughter: "I give you one chance: Let her go or I'll call the police!" she threatens him but it doesn't work.

Thomas laughs: "See your Mommy's pale, she's sick, so we have to go on vacation all by ourselves…" If it was possible for Mitchie to get even paler she was sure she did in the moment when Thomas grabbed her bag and walked downstairs with Riley in his arms.

"No, no you can't, you can't take her. She's not yours, Thomas!" she screams after him and stumbles down the stairs, unsteadily from the hits she had received and the fear for her daughter. She gets a hold of him but he just hits her in the stomach, so she stumbles back.

Her head bumps onto the edge of the stairs and everything around her starts to get blurry before she falls into a dead faint…

Thomas doesn't bother; he just looks at her one last time and with Riley still on his arms leaves the house. He takes the car which he found already prepared. He's angry. Mitchie had planed this! She had wanted to leave him!

Furious he drove off….

**Review please! 3**


	4. Where's Riley?

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews I'v gotten. Not many but its okay. More would be great and I might get inspired and update quicker. lol. **

Chapter 02:

When Mitchie regained consciousness the entrance hall of her house was filled with people. Next to her was sitting an emergency physician who was telling her not to move. Two police officers were standing close, observing the scene and talking to a woman Mitchie recognized as her neighbor. She probably had called the police, she figured, knowing the elder woman always had looked at her with that pitiful glance. For once she was grateful that someone had interfered.

Her head aches heavily. She wanted the pain to disappear so she closed her eyes again, hoping it would ease the headache.

"Don't, stay with me!" the doctor says instantly and claps her cheek and she opens her eyes again.

Finally collecting her thoughts she speaks up. How long was she out, where was Thomas and… Riley? "Wha, what happened?" she asks, trying to remember: "Riley! Is Riley okay?"

She hears her neighbor explaining to the police officer, that Riley was her daughter. One of the officers knelt down next to her: "Ms. Arlington we haven't found your daughter, could you please tell us what has happened?" he asks gently.

Mitchie tries to get up, panicking: "Riley's not here?" she asks looking around. The physician holds her down: "Please Ms. Arlington, stay down, an ambulance will be here shortly!" he explains.

But how was a mother supposed to stay calm when her child was with someone who blamed her for everything that went wrong in his life, someone who had already touched her child the way Thomas had touched Riley the other night!

"No, no ambulance, I need to find him, he took her, he can't, he'll hurt her, he…" Tears were now welling up in her eyes, it was all her fault. If she hadn't had this affair, if she hadn't gotten pregnant from another man then her husband, everything would have been different, perfect. But she did! And she couldn't and wouldn't turn back the time. She just wanted her girl back, wanted to know that she was safe!

Still panicking but hold down by the doctor and the officer she gives up, feeling dizziness taking over. The last thing she hears before again being enclosed by the warm blackness was the officer telling his colleague, that they have to find that girl.

When she wakes up again she's surrounded by white walls, lying in a white bed. A hospital room! Immediately she's sitting in an upright position, looking directly in the face of...

"Dad?" she exclaims surprised.

He smiles worriedly: "Mitchie what the hell did you think you were doing staying with that bastard?" he asks, touching her bruised cheek softly. He felt guilty not having realized what was going on but on the other hand, he and Mitchie hadn't been in touch a lot since she had moved out of San Obispo, left everything and everyone behind to start a 'new' life. He never understood her reasons, she never told him her reasons...

Mitchie couldn't hold back the tears any longer when her Dad enclosed her in his arms. All the pain, the guilt and the fear washed over her and she cried silently, tears falling down her cheeks.

Finally when she had soothed down a little she started explaining him, that she had intended on leaving Thomas, she told him that she had already packed up everything, that she had wanted to leave before he was coming home from the club, but he was earlier than she had expected him.

The words came uncontrolled, unsorted; she just spoke what came to her mind. She was a mess and what she told him didn't really make any sense at all. But as a private investigator and a former police officer he knew how to handle her so he would get the facts he needed. And he got them, in the end he was able to puzzle together what had happened. To make her more reasonable and also to calm her down he went trough it with her a second time, asked her about little almost unimportant things that still might help. She did calm down and started to think as she would have all those years ago when she was still helping her father with all his cases.

Dan then promised her to do everything to find her daughter. Mitchie, being as stubborn as she is, still didn't want to stay in the hospital. She just couldn't handle knowing her daughter being in trouble because of her and do nothing about it. But her father was as stubborn as she was and so she had to deal with being transported to San Obispo Hospital where her stepmother Alicia would look after her while her father will look and find her daughter. She didn't doubt he will. He was good in what he did, even if he was worse than her, he was still the best she knew and she was glad he was looking for her Riley as well. The police also promised to help and Dan told his daughter, that they already had a few leads. He didn't tell her which ones though, knowing that if he would she probably release herself from the hospital to look for her daughter all by herself. Her being emotionally involved like she was that sure was not a good idea!

So after being checked again by a physician they got the okay to transport her to the hospital . Her father told her goodbye; he would stay and look for her daughter right away, which calms her down a bit. Still she feels like she has to do something about it, anything… Her father tells her to get her life ordered and with tears in her eyes she nods and is being shoved into an ambulance car which brings her back to San Obispo, back to where everything began…


	5. Thoughts

**A/N: Yea so im trying to write 2 chapters or more for each day I update. My sister read this and said this chapter is a little confusing. So let me set some things strait. Tess fans please don't kill me but she's dead, Shane used to be Tess and Mitchie's Boyfriend, Tess was one of Mitchie's best friends, Mitchie used to be Jason's girlfriend, Mitchie's parents are divorced because Connie had a drinking problem, and Nate is Mitchie's best friend. This goes along with a story I wrote before but it was really suck-ish so I never uploaded it, otherwise this would all make sense, sorry =[. Remember to review please!**

Chapter 03:

Mitchie had tried to sleep on the way to San Obispo but she wasn't able to. Too much was going on in her head, to much worried her: the kidnapping of her daughter, what will possibly happen to Thomas when they do catch him and last but certainly not least she thought of her old friends with whom she hasn't had contact in years. She hadn't even called or contacted her Dad often. Only informed him every now and then about how she was and what she was doing. He had been visiting her when little Riley was born and he had called Riley every birthday, he had called her as well, but they never had much to talk they mostly argued about her returning to San Obispo. So she really had been surprised that he had come to visit her in the hospital but then again he was Dan Torres, he had always been there for her, even while he hadn't really been sure that he actually was her father.

Tears were welling up in her eyes, she knew she had made a lot of mistakes and her biggest was to leave her old home and all her friends. But she just wasn't able to handle it anymore. She had looked so though on the outside but she wasn't really, the mystery about Tess's death had kept her going, kept her sane and occupied. After finding out who had actually killed Tess she suddenly felt very empty and like she lost her best friend again. Adding the fallout with Shane, everything… It just was too much to take! So when her mother had called half a year later and asked her if she wanted to move in with her in LA, she gladly agreed and left San Obispo for good without looking back.

She knew that with that decision she had hurt her father the most, so she had written him a letter, trying to explain why she'd done it. Tried to explain that it hadn't anything to do with him, that she just needed some time away and that she was certain to come back sometime in the future. He did understand, that he had told her once, but since then he had always tried to talk her into returning back home and she just couldn't find the courage to do so.

Then she fell in love again!

It wasn't the kind of relationship she had with Jason or Shane. It wasn't the same kind of feeling she had felt back then. It was more like the love she had felt for a very good friend, she really cared a lot about Thomas. And he did love her, does still probably. So when, after one horrible visit in Obispo, Mitchie had found out that she was pregnant he asked her to marry him. He had promised not only to look after her and to love her in good and bad times, he had also promised her to be a good father for her unborn child. He hadn't kept any of these promises, she now thought bitterly.

But then again it was easier to marry Thomas than facing the problems she had with Riley's real father. She had no clue how she was supposed to tell him that she was pregnant with his child, nor how he will react, would he be happy, after all they had a huge fight and the break up wasn't really nice. So she did a very untypical thing for her and she chose Thomas over Riley's father. The first months were incredible, sometimes she was able to betray herself and she really thought she was happy. Thomas was an understanding man and he had treated her like she was the most beautiful and amazing woman on the earth, he had read every wish from her eyes and even though she hadn't been the funniest person to be with while she had suffered from the pregnancy.

And she had suffered, emotionally and physically. Guilt had eaten her up, she had wanted to tell her friends about the pregnancy but then she was sure that if she did questions would be raised and they would realize that her husband just couldn't be her child's biological father. So she stopped talking to Nate and Jason. She didn't even tell her father at first. Then there were complications, she almost lost her child and had to stay in bed for about three months to limit the risk of an early abortion. That's when Thomas had called her father, finding out she hadn't even told him yet. They ended up fighting and with a visit of Dan and Alicia who where both very confused and also worried about Mitchie's weird behavior which led to another fight, this one with her father. It all ended badly and made Mitchie feel even worse…

But then the ambulance stopped and the door opened. Alicia and Mitchie's half little brother Brian were already waiting for her. Mitchie felt relieved and happy about them still caring, even though of all the mistakes she had done, even though she had screamed at them, blamed them and had told them nasty things that have cut very deep…

Mitchie didn't say hi, she just stared at her with a sorrowful and guilty look on her face: "I am so sorry, sorry…" she murmured and Alicia walked beside her, while they transported her into a room of the hospital.

Alicia smiled down at her: "You should say that to your father Darling…" she said low: "He took it pretty hard!" It wasn't exactly what Mitchie was hoping to hear, but she knew that Alicia had every right to lecture her.

"I know and I am sorry, for everything, I have done so much, I don't even know where to start and maybe I deserve this, maybe I deserve that Riley is being taken from me, but she doesn't. She hadn't done anything wrong…" Now the tears were again falling and the fear for her daughter was coming back. It felt like a punch in the stomach, she cringed, it hurt more than any of the punches she had received from Thomas.

They reached a room and Alicia stayed with her. She looked down at the small figure Mitchie was. In the big white bed she looked even smaller than she already was. And she looked horrible. If she ever would see Thomas again, she couldn't guarantee for anything. How could he do such a thing, she always thought that this man loved Mitchie with all his heart, she had been sure about this, it had been the only thing that had kept her sane over the years. While Dan was missing his daughter so much she had always calmed him with the words that she was fine and that she has got a nice husband who will take care of her. She was wrong and she didn't even want to imagine how horrible it must have been for Mitchie, how horrible it must be for her knowing her daughter was with such a cruel man.

The two woman haven't exchanged any more words, Alicia just sat there holding Mitchie's hand and silence settled over the room. Mitchie was exhausted from crying and the long trip to Obispo as well as all the emotional turmoils have drained her.

"You'll tell me when Dad calls?" she asks low, just to make sure she wanted to be woken if there were any news on how her daughter was.

Alicia nods: "I will stay right here Darling, get some rest…" she ordered and it didn't took any more pleading Mitchie's eyes were already closing and she drifted off…


	6. Nate

Chapter 04:

Nate had been informed about Mitchie's return to Obispo when he had called Brian, mitchie's little brother. He was angry, angry because she had left, angry because she hadn't called him, angry because she hadn't even told him that she was pregnant and that she now had a little daughter. They used to be best friendsand still she hadn't felt like he was someone she could trust and that hurt him the most.

Despite all of this he was now sitting in a chair next to her bed, watching her sleep. He felt sorry for her because she looked like hell, her left eye was swollen and of some weird colors, her arms also were covered with bruises and he was able to see where Thomas had grabbed her. He didn't want to know how she looked under the blanket or the hospital gown. He didn't want to know what she had gone through all these years, what that bastard who called himself her husband had done to her.

He knew she had taken some things pretty hard, that she wasn't as though as she always pretended but that she was going to let a man do such things to her was just something that suprised him quite a bit. But seing this Mitchie, this small vulnerable women lying in this white big hospital bed it was easier to imagine that she wasn't even half that strong as she had always pretended to be. Maybe he just should have been more insistent trying to stay in contact with her, more obtrusive...

He was so deep in thoughts that he didn't realize Mitchie had woken up and was watching him as he watched her. But she didn't say a word, too surprised seing him sitting in the chair Alicia promised to be, too surprised that he even cared, last time they had talked was... Definitely years ago, she couldn't even recall it! And still there he was, sitting in her hospital room. She felt, despite all the bad things that had happened to her in the past 48 hours, happy and relieved. She realized how much she had missed her best friend, his face, his comfort, him just being there.

"I could bake you some cookies when I get home!" she says, low, just to break the silence and realized that she actually didn't have something like a home, not anymore, or at least not really something she considered as one.

Nate looks at her a little startled, torn out of his deep thoughts: "Mitchie you're awake..." he states and looks at her with an undefining expression. But he can't stay angry with her for too long, he never was able to stay mad with her. Not back in school, at camp, not now, especially not now...

He pulls his chair closer to the bed and takes her hand: "How are you?" he asks a lot more friendly. But that caused her almost more pain as if he had stayed angry with her.

"Why's everyone so nice while I have done so much mistakes, I never called you, I left and never called you Nate, why are you here? You're better off without me!" she sobbs tiredly making Nate's heart break for her.

"Mitchie stop it okay, we can handle this another time, now there are more important things to solve!" he announced looking at her kind of expectant. "You're going to be relieved from this hospital by tomorrow, your mom said you'll stay with her but if you want to, you could stay with us, it's your decision..." he tried to occupie her mind with something else than remorse.

"Us?" she asks, exactly the thing he was hoping for causing him to smile broadly.

"Yeah us!" he nodded grinning even broader now enjoying the curious look on Mitchie's face not telling her anymore than the word us.

"Nate Black, spill!" she said in her old Mitchie Torres manner when she noticed a white gold ring on his right hand. "Okay so Nate is a married man!" she notices and smiles: "Who's the lucky woman? Any kids?" she asks curious and so they start catching up. Nate tells her everything that has been going on in San Obispo, so that after a few hours Mitchie felt like she never has left...

Then a knock at the door and it opens, another familiar face. Mitchie stars at him in disbelief when a little girl came running in the room.


	7. A LITTLE Suprise

**A/N: This one's for you Peachie-Trishie, thanks for the regular feedback :) Also thanks to everyone else who has feedbacked me, I am soooo yay-happy about all the feedback I got, jumping around here lol As for Shane, he's a father, if he's Riley's, well I still leave that open, could also be Jason with whom she had an affair dumdidum Well both men are going to make one hell of an appearance, as are most of the other characters of Camp Rock and I hope Riley's going to be back soon... sigh...Review!**

Chapter 05:

Suddenly the girl came to a stop, starred at the woman in the bed: "Who are you?" she asks with big eyes, turning around to the man who was still standing in the door: "You said we're going to visit a friend, I don't know her, she's not a friend!" she says a little dissapointed. It was obvious she had expected someone else. But Mitchie didn't care, the only thing she could do was stare at the man in the door, and he was staring back at her, his brown eyes piercing into hers. 'He hasn't changed at all!' was the first thing that popped into Mitchie's mind. Then her stomach started to knot. He was here, now, with his daughter! Why has Nate not told her anything about this!

She focused on the girl, she must be around six years, brown eyes and brown hair... She resembles him little but she does. Her heart breakes, shatteres into thousand little pieces. She hears him speaking with her, it's like he's thousand miles away, she feels like she's floating above all of them, observing this little reunion unable to speak up or do anything...

"She's a friend, she actually used to be Tess' best friend!" explains the girl and this seems to explain a lot to the little girl.

A big smile spread on her face and she approached the bed, noticing Nate for the first time: "Oh good evening Mr. Black!"

Nate smiled at the girl: "Hey Tess, how was school today?" he asks and the girl looks a little disapointed.

"With you it's funnier, I don't like the other teachers!" she wrinkels her nose: "Especially not Mom!"

Shane laughed: "Outch, don't tell her that, she'll be very disapointed!" Tess nodded and climbed up to Mitchie who was starring at her like she was seing a ghost.

"Hi Mitchie, I actually thought you're bigger, on the pictures with Aunt Tess you look bigger..." she talks on: "And what happened to your eye?" she touches it causing Mitchie to flinch. Shane jumps forward, lecturing the girl: "Stop that Tessy, that hurts her, you don't want to hurt her do you?"

Tess shakes her head: "I am sorry!" she says truthfully.

Mitchie, against her dissapointment, has to smile: "Don't worry, I am okay..." she says and touches the cheek of the little girl: "I like your name!" she said and looked at Shane again.

The girl smiled: "I like it too, especially because Daddy told me a lot about Tess, and he said she would have wanted to get to know me, she would have loved me, he says I am a lot like her, not the good looks, he says I am much more beautiful than her, but I am like her a pain in the ass and still he calls me his little princess..." she babbles happily.

Mitchie looks at her a little taken aback and jealous. Her daughter should be able to talk like that about her family but Riley never talks and if she does she's got this quiet and low voice and she definetly isn't Daddy's little princess. Hard, Mitchie tries to hold back the tears that started to well up in her eyes, leaving Tess quiet for a minute, just staring at her. Shane picked her up: "Uhm Darling I guess it's better if we leave, uhm or Nate would you mind look after Tessy for a moment, I think, uhm I want to talk to her..." he explains.

Nate nods: "Sure where's Jason anyway, isn't he supposed to come over as well?" Shane sighs: "Peggy had called him, she's not feeling well but he'll stop by later..." he said that in both directions, to Nate and Mitchie.

Mitchie had listened to the conversation, trying to block it out but not suceeding. He wanted to stay, he wanted to talk to her, about what? She couldn't tell him, not ever, she couldn't destroy his life now that he seemed so happy. She had seen the affection he feels for the little girl, the love, it showed off in how he has taken her in his arms, how he talked to her, just everything... He loved her and she felt even worse because Riley could have had all this as well, if she just would have had the courage to tell her father the truth. Maybe she'd be as happy as Tess now, as talkative and outgoing and not the shy little girl she had become...

She heard the door close. She guessed Nate and Tess have left the room now which made her nervous. She was alone in the room with Shane Gray. The man she had left behind with a broken heart. Of all the people she had left behind Shane probably was the one who she hurt the most. Adding all the things she had done before she had left. Not trusting him was probably the biggest mistake she had ever made!

**A/N: You wanna read another chapter today? 4 reviews and I will do my best to get another two chapters out by tonight!**


	8. Apologies

**A/N: Okay so here is the first of the two promised chapters :) I am not sooo happy how it turned out, I can't even tell you why, I'm just not and there's kind of no mystery solved, but well... I hope you guys like it nevertheless. I was so honored when I booted my computer today and saw that I got another five reviews, you guys rock, it's much more fun to write a story knowing it's liked by the readers... So I now stop blabbering, enjoy!**

Chapter 06:

Silence settled on the room, neither of them spoke when Mitchie suddenly felt the mattress shifting, she closes her eyes instantly and tries to calm down. But her heart races and her breath speeds up a little when she feels him sitting down next to her.

He does not touch her; he does not say one single word, he just sits there watching her lying in that bed with her back towards him. Gone! Yeah that's what she did, she had left him when he would have needed her the most, but on the other hand he had told her that he wished she was dead. But he hadn't meant it, he was hurt, she hasn't trusted him, had turned him in thinking he was the murder of Tess, the love of his life, his first love...

Low, almost a whisper: "I am sorry!"

Did he imagine that or did she just really say she's sorry. He closes his eyes, letting the words wash over him. He had wished to hear these words for so many years now, wished she would come back to San Obispo, tell him she's sorry and that they at least tried to work things out. But she never came, or no she did, but she hasn't said these words back then. Instead they had ended up screaming at each other, hurting each other. I had been some horrible weekend!

"I could never have hurt her!" he states and sees her nodding.

"I know, I knew but the evidence... You lied with your allibi saying you were out of town when you weren't, who would do that if not guilty?" she spoke low, about things that have happened so many years ago. Things she didn't want to talk about, there were more important things she needed to talk about him but she didn't dare to.

Even though he didn't want to, even though he still wanted to be angry with her, he could understand her actions from back then. With all the years that have passed he had started to see things more clearly, he grew up. She had wanted closure, she thought with finding who really has murdered Tess she would finally be able to get what she needed so badly, the right to move on... She had also thought Jason to be able to kill Tess, she has had suspicions against every one of her friends. That also included him if he liked it or not...

"You left..." he then stated and almost instantly she turned around.

"You wanted me dead, remember?" she asks and looks him in the eyes: "So I left, being dead for you and all the Obispo residents, I was, kind of, without Tess...." her voice cracked and Shane knew exactly what she meant. When Tess died she was not only gone, she had taken so much with her. And Mitchie's Mom had left her as well, she was just gone, it definetly wasn't an easy year on her...

"I'm sorry too!" he said starring back into her eyes. He couldn't really believe that he had just said that out loud but it was what he felt. She never should have gone through all of this alone and yet she had to. Because he had blamed everyone for Tess' death, even her, even himself. Their friendship was as dead as Tess was at that time. And Jason, he had his own reasons for breaking up with Mitchie, good reasons, but he should have talked to her about these reasons. They could have worked it out!

But they have been young, they have been innocent and naive, they've all made mistakes...

Mitchie started crying, silently. He watched the tears fall down her cheeks and his heart broke for her. "Mitchie I am so sorry, for everything, we've made so much things more complicated than they should have been, I was so angry with you, with me, my uncle, Jason, everyone... I should have never said what I did at camp, I should have never blamed you..." he just couldn't stop it, everything he felt so bad about broke out of him.

After all she had been the only one that had helped him when he had gotten dropped from his label and his, Nate, and Jason's career's went under. She was the only one that had made him feel happy again, happy like he never had been with Tess because with tess things have been crazy. He had known that she has never loved him the way he had loved her. She had been this one crazy girl and she had made him suffer, even after her dead she had made him clear that their relationship was far from perfect. But with Mitchie it had been different. The few times they had spent together withouth Tess disturbing they have been happy, more than happy...

Mitchie broke, shaken from sobbs she almost spits out the words: "Don't, please Shane, don't apologize, you have no idea what I did to you, what I am going to do, I am horrible, you shouldn't even be here, no one should, I am bad, I bring bad luck, I make everyone suffer, I let him hurt her, I let him beat her, I let him, I haven't even tried to stop him..."

How could he appologize to her when she had done much more wrong than he did. But then he had no clue what she had done... That made her sob even harder and when she felt his arms around her, she struggled, tried to get rid of him, screaming, beating him but he didn't let go of her until she gave up and cuddled into his arms, still crying, clinging to his shirt that now was soaked with her salty tears...

**A/N: As always feedback is very much appreciated :)**


	9. Flattering But No

Chapter 07:

Shane just hold her tightly in his arms while she was saying stuff that really didn't make sense to him. She talked about someone called Riley, about someone who had hurt Riley.

And who has hurt her? She looked horrible, that swollen eye, all these bruises, it reminded him of how he looked after his father had beaten him up when he was little. Had someone hit her, and who, and why hadn't she done anything about it? She wasn't the kind of girl who just let anyone hit her, not even with words, she always shot back...

But then again, what did he know about the Mitchie Torres of today, nothing really... Just that she was clinging on to him like something really bad must have happened to her. In that second the door to her room opened and Jason, Peggy, Tess and Nate were standing there. Mitchie didn't look up and Shane just made a gesture with his hand, showing them that she probably needs some time alone.

He figured that all these people from her past were maybe just a little too much to take. They nodded in unison and the door closed again causing Mitchie to stirr, looking up at him she asks: "Who was it?"

In that moment Shane realizes how close they're sitting and he backs away a little, not really sure if she really would appreciate his closeness as soon as she would come to her senses. But when he does he catches a spark of dissapointment in her eyes yet he doesn't change his mind. Rushing things under this circumstances wouldn't be the best idea. They already have rushed things once and it certainly didn't end well. He frowned thinking of the second time she had left Obispo.

"The Kane family and Nate!" he then answered her question, when he saw her rising an eyebrow he smiled: "As in Jason, Peggy and Tess Kane!" he explained.

She first only nods when she starts getting pale and blushes at the same time: "Tess Kane? As in the girl that was in here just minutes ago, she's Jason's?"

Shane looks at her and chuckles: "Sure she is, what did you think, that she's mine? Flattering but no! She's Jason's little princess, I am only the bad uncle!" He observes her reaction: 'Is she relieved or is it just his imagination wishing for her to be relieved! Did she really think I could have a kid of six years on my own, that would mean I would have had been a father when we have seen each other in LA five years ago, it would mean that I have lied to her...'

Mitchie was now observing him and their eyes locked, it was a weird mixture of hope, guilt and fear that was showing off in her eyes. Shane again found himself asking what had happened to her.

After a while he took her hand in his own: "I am going to step by every now and then if you're okay with that!" he says low with the intention to leave her now. She still had Jason to face and he had kicked out Nate earlier, they sure didn't want to wait out there the whole day. Mitchie nodded hesistant.

"Promise?" she asks then just to make sure that he will show up again, telling herself that she then will find the courage to tell him everything.

Shane smiles wickedly: "Yeah promised Mitch!" he kisses her forehead softly: "And you girl, take care of yourself okay, I don't want to see you like that again, your face is just too beautiful to be hit like that..." he carresed one of her bruises softly. If she would tell him who had done this to her, he was sure he would go and kill that guy. She doesn't tell him, just nods with a sad expression in her eyes.

Shane gets up: "See you soon..." he says, smiles at her and starts walking to the door: "If you ever need help or anything, just come by, you know where I life..." with that he leaves her, letting the door open for her other friends to enter. He can't see the tears that are now flowing down Mitchie's cheeks, and he certainly couldn't know why she was crying...


	10. You Don't Have To Be Afraid

**A/N: Hey I tried to not tell who Riley's father is but oh well, guess it's obvious now and sorry for the confusion. :) Well anyway here you go, again thanks for the wonderful reviews!**

**P.S.- I dont know if i will be mentioning him in future chapters but Shane's uncle Brown is who killed Tess. i know shocker! lol.**

Chapter 08:

The time went by quickly. After an hour of some uneasy chitchat and some hurt glances towards Tess from Mitchie who was always remembered of her daughter while looking at the little girl, Jason and Peggy decided to leave. Only Nate had stayed with her until visiting time was over. At first they have just been sitting there in silence until Mitchie couldn't hold it back any longer, she needed to talk about what has happened, she needed someone she could confide in and that always had been Nate.

She started from the very beginning:

"After finding out who really had killed Tess I was, I really lost it. It was like I lost Tess once again, I had this weird dream of her telling me I should never forget her and then she was gone. In that year while I was trying to figure out what has happened to her it was like she was there with me, always and then suddenly she was gone!"

Nate interrupted, seeing how heartbroken she was: "Mitchie you do not have to tell me everything, it's okay, I don't blame you, neither does my mother or your father, no one actually does!"

Mitchie just nods and looks at him: "I know, I still want to tell you this, I need you to listen…"

Nate looks at her and then slowly gets up and over to her bed. Sitting down next to her, he enclosed her in an embrace: "Okay tell me everything but take your time…" he ordered, not letting go of her.

So Mitchie went on with her story:

"I had kicked out my mom finding out that she was still drinking. And I have called Alicia to be with my dad because I know that she was the one to make him happy, not my mother, not anymore. Then you showed up and I finally was able to get some rest, but still there was so much going on in my head, with finding out who has killed Tess I hurt so many people. Jason, Shane, Shane the most probably." she started fidgeting with her hands nervously. She then looked up at him: "I loved him, but it made me feel so guilty and I really didn't know how to handle it… Then I turned him in, jumping on conclusions, I didn't trust him which ended up him wishing me dead, again!" she sighed when she saw the shocked expression on Nate's face.

"I told him I would make my dog go for his throat!" she said. "I haven't been much better than he was, we have both said and done horrible things to hurt each other."

"I never showed up on our first date, I really didn't trust him in any way and I don't think a relationship like that would have worked, do you?"

Nate shakes his head, somehow understanding now even better than before. There was a lot more to the events than he had thought, a lot more emotional turmoil which must have drained the insecure girl she really was. He still hold her tight, to show her his support and so she went on.

"I didn't dare to talk to anyone from school or camp, even though suddenly they again recognized me, they greeted me, almost like back when I was Tess's best friend. But I didn't want to talk to Jason, to Shane, to any of them, everything just felt wrong. I have hoped that solving the case would bring us back to how it was before she had died, that everything would be the same, but I have changed over the year, everyone has and part of me didn't want it to be like before Tess died, part of me did…"

After a small break she went on: "Then about a year later my Mom called, she told me that she had her life sorted out, that she has a flat in LA and that she stopped drinking. She also told me that she would be very happy if I'd stay with her. I took the opportunity to leave everything behind, start over, because how it was really wasn't any good for me. To go to school was hard even though I didn't show it but it was even harder then back when people have picked on me… Then again I knew that my decision is wrong, that I should be more mature and talk things out, with Jason, with Shane, with everyone but I was drained, I neither had the courage nor the strength to do it at the time. Running didn't help though! I still think that I am not ready, I still fear talking things out…"

"But you have, I mean you talked to your father, you talked to Alicia and with Shane and Jason, and you're now talking with me, you do not have to be afraid, not anymore, we all grew up and we're not at Camp Rock anymore!" Nate quipped in but Mitchie just looks at him sadly.

"There's more to it, the story isn't finished, I did much more things wrong than you can imagine!" she says not daring to see him in the eyes. Mitchie wonders what she is talking about, he had no clue…

**A/N: Okay I had a hard time starting with this chapter, but I am kinda relieved about how it turned out. So you're going to be told the whole story from when Mitchie had left LA until the day she had wanted to leave Thomas in the next few chapters; I don't know how many it will take me to summ up everything. Well anyway I hope you like where I am going to take this story and I am looking forward to your reviews... Since I am really bored I guess I will have another chapter out by tonight... See ya :)**


	11. Explainations and Secrets

**A/N: So another chapter, it's longer then the one's before but I've summed everything up that has happened while Mitchie has lived in LA...So instead of a few chapters it's only one...**

**Hope you like it, it's a little dramatic but well… lol I feel like a drama queen right now... But there you have it, Mitchie tells someone about Riley's real father, but just someone and not Shane... sigh**

Chapter 09:

„I'll just tell you from the rest, just, uhm I just have to find a point where to start…" she muses. Nate doesn't push her he just sits next to her and waits patiently for her to continue, even though he's more than curious about what she had done in all that time she had spent in LA. He knew only little, that she's married and that she's got a four year old kid. He also knew that this kid has been kidnapped by it's own father, he asks himself how that would be possible, a father kidnapping his own child? Doesn't he have the right to just take his daughter and go with her to the zoo or anything. But after seeing Mitchie's face, all the bruises he guessed that it wasn't a good thing having that father walking around with Riley without any supervision.

With hesitation Mitchie then went on:

"So I left for my mother's and changed school and everything. She had a good job and was paid well. She was there for me and tried to make up for everything she had done in the past years but I didn't really let her. I became a loner and concentrated on my studies. I have had quarrels with my Dad because he wanted me to return to Obispo, You noticed that I didn't listen to him. Well I had, I had spent one horrible weekend in Obispo without people knowing I was there, I wanted to talk to you, I wanted to come back but I couldn't bring up the courage when I saw you. No one noticed me except Shane. He was starring at me, Angry and hurt and I just turned around and left again. He didn't follow me then, Not right away…" she stopped talking thinking back to the events that have followed that occasion.

Nate caressed her cheek: "You really don't have to tell me everything!" he said low, realizing what was to come probably was the hardest thing to tell. But with saying that he only made her wanting to tell these things even more:

"I travelled back to LA, I was in College at the time and I've got that really good friend, Thomas Arlington, We used to be classmates, Went out couple of times but it just never was the same as it had been with Jason, And he certainly was not Shane who I guess I…" she didn't finish the sentence, not sure about her feelings against the man he now was. "Well he was a good friend, nothing more. We left the building and Shane was waiting, I was shocked, I haven't really thought that anyone ever will come to LA to talk because it was my place to do so, I was the one who has left but there he was. Thomas realized that something was wrong and put a protective arm around my shoulders. The glance, The way Shane looked at me then…" she shuddered.

"He was hurt so much, I hurt him, Again, I can't even count how many times I hurt him…" she now talks fast, without stopping again. Fearing that she wouldn't be able to tell him everything if she didn't do it right away.

"I dismissed Thomas which hurt him, I guess but I needed to talk to Shane, I wanted to make him understand, I was somehow happy he had shown up, that he still cared even though he had told me he wanted me dead. I thought maybe we could… But no, We ended up at his hotel room. We screamed, We hurt each other even more, Said nasty things, Spoke out curses and… and then we kissed and,..and we had sex…" Now she couldn't go on anymore, thinking of that night was just too, It overwhelmed her. "He was drunk…" she stated: "Otherwise he wouldn't have kissed me, we wouldn't have…and he left, Just like this, When I woke up he was gone!" Tears were streaming down her face. That he had left her after they've shared the night, Hurt her a lot. It certainly was a 'first' time she'll ever remember!

"After this I couldn't come back, not even if I would have found the courage to face Jason, you and all the others I have left, I couldn't face Shane again!" she confessed. "And then I found out that he got me pregnant, It was about two month after his visit in LA that I realized why I was feeling so bad. First I thought I am just late because I was totally stressed but then I just couldn't pretend like nothing is wrong anymore and I went to see a doctor. I was shocked and I didn't know what to do. I cried for almost like a week, didn't go to College and just looked me up in my room. Then I told Thomas, told him everything and he proposed to me. He promised to take care of me and my child that he'll be a good father and I believed him, I wanted to because I wanted the child. An abortion was not an option for me even though I was still young and I had no job and all, I wanted it and he offered me help when I needed it the most. He knew I never loved him the way he loved me but he always said that he would love me enough for the both of us so we got married almost instantly. He was a wonderful husband and he took very good care of me." Nate furrowed his brows looking at her face that was showing off that he had not taken very good care of her.

Mitchie shook her head: "He did, really, he never pushed me into doing anything and when I was laying in bed with complications he had read every wish from my eyes. I was or well pretended to be very happy, I wanted it to work out, for me, for him and for my child. Then Riley was born and he fell in love with her, You should have seen him carrying her around, he really was a wonderful father to her in the first year. He had done everything for me and for Riley. But when she had turned two and had started to resemble him things changed. It was like every time he looked at her he saw the reason why I will never be able to love him, or so he said. He had said a lot of things while he was drunk. And he got himself drunk a lot. Sometimes he didn't even come home anymore and when he did it was, it was only to to…" she inhaled sharply.

"I can't tell you what he did to her, I can't, she just, she never said a word, nor did she cry, she called him Daddy nevertheless and I haven't realized, didn't want to see it. I have talked with Tom a lot about this events, and he always agreed about needing help, he promised me that we will work it out and that everything will go back to the way it was before Riley had turned two. But he never got himself help and it got worse, he…" again she couldn't say it out loud.

"Riley already has had broken legs and arms, and I was a regular visitor at the hospitals, I never used the same one, knowing that they would get suspicious, I tried to hide that my family wasn't perfect, that the life I had was even worse then the one I ran from…" she sobbed: "I let him do all this stuff, I didn't do anything to stop him!" Nate, shocked from the facts, cuddles her in his arms. "She's nothing like little Tess, She's shy and calm, she doesn't speak much, She doesn't trust anyone and it's my fault, I should have realized earlier, I should have left him right then when it started…" she broke right then, sobbed hard and let go of all the fear and pain she felt in that moment. Tears flooded down her cheeks and soaked Nate's shirt when another knock at the door disrupted them.

It was a nurse telling them that visiting time was over and that Nate has to leave now, he pleads her so she lets him stay with Mitchie but she shakes her head: "I am sorry, but these are the rules!" she said.

Mitchie wiped the tears away, looking at Nate: "Just promise you won't tell anyone about what happened with Shane, please?"

Nate didn't want to give her that promise but the look in her eyes made him do it nevertheless. "But you should tell him, he has a right to know!"

Mitchie nodded, not knowing how she should break this news to him so she changed the subject, told him goodbye: "Tell Ella hi from me okay? And that I am sorry!" this made him smile and he nods while getting up: "Sure thing! I'll stop by tomorrow taking her with me and you're welcome to come and stay with us, just give it a thought okay!" Mitchie again nodded in agreement watching him leave her room.

Leaving her alone to the fear and worries she feels for her little girl. Why hadn't her father called, why haven't they found her yet? Was she alright? Please let her be alright!

**A/N: Okay I can't take it any longer! I have to bring Riley back soon, poor little girl…**


	12. My Name's Thomas Arlington

**A/N: Another chapter for my lovely reviewers Peachie-Trishie & TakeABreath92! For everyone else reviewing, thank you so much for all of the good comments, it really helps me want to better myself in my writing. Also I have been getting some really good critisizim which I love to get because it helps me see what im doing wrong and how I can fix it, so thank you for that also. Hope I can make you day a little better with this chapter…**

Chapter 10:

Dan Torres had followed some leads, even though he had been told to stay clear because of the possible danger, and he was surprised that they led him right back to San Obispo. What is going on in Thomas head, why is he taking Riley back to Obispo, it just didn't make sense to him…

_At the same time in front of the Gray estate:_

Thomas was sober now, still he smelled of the alcohol he had drunken the night before. Riley was crying silently on the backseat and he felt sorry for her and for what he did. So to make things alright he thought he'd end this once and for all and he drove on and on until he reached the little town called San Obispo. A town his wife hated, detested, a town she had left years ago. But he knew that as much as she hated it she also loved it and the people that still were living here. Especially her father and also Shane Gray. A rich spoiled ex-popstar brat in his eyes but a tender loving man in Mitchie's. He didn't know what has been going on between the two of them but he knew that with having Riley, Mitchie would never be able to forget him, nor get over him.

He had realized that he never would be able to have her like Shane Gray. Realizing this hurt. It had made him sad and angry at the same time. He had started drinking and lost it totally. With each time he would get home totally drunk it got worse, he had known that it was not right what he did but still he couldn't stop himself from being so angry. Last night things got out of control, totally. Actually, they did many times before but Mitchie had hit the stairs badly and she had lost consciousness,which had never happened before. Driven with panic and anger, he ran, without looking back.

Thomas drove quiettly along the road trying to get his thoughts together but with Riley in the backseat crying silently, it wasn't making him feel any better. He drove on, without really knowing where to go until he saw the sign welcoming him to San Obispo. One name: Shane Gray, he had to see him, he didn't know why but he searched for his house. Now standing in front of it, he was in awe. He hasn't expected a house like this. Sure he knew he was rich but a house like this! He wanted to ring the bell when a car approached and a tall man with dark hair got out of his car. When Thomas looked at him more closely he recognized him, he hadn't changed much since he had been looking for Mitchie five years ago. "Shane gray?" he asks nevertheless.

The man nods, scratches his brow: "You must be one of Mitchie's friends from LA!" he stated and Thomas wanted to tell him that he's her husband but got disrupted by Shane again: "I've just visited her in the hospital, she's alright I guess, looks pretty bad though. So what brings you up to my gate instead of the hospital?"

Thomas pales: "She's in the hospital, how bad is it?" he asked feeling terribly guilty now. The next instant anger is rushing through him and he thought 'As soon as she's back here, that man visits her, the one man her heart belongs to. Does he know about Riley? Probably not, Mitchie's not brave enough to face it. She never was, not even when he had hit Riley. She hadn't said anything different to anyone other than them being a family, even though they both knew better.

Shane looked Thomas up and down: "You look awful man, you want come inside and change? I think visiting hours are over now anyway…" he said opening the gate. "Just drive through and park your car next to the house…" When he started walking back to his own car again, little girl on the backseat of Thomas' car catches his eye. "Oh you've got a little girl?" he asked, smiling at her.

Thomas could say nothing, only nod. 'How come that man was treating him like a long lost friend' he thoguht. 'Probably because he doesn't know anything, not about the marriage, nor him hitting his child. He probably didn't even know he was a father. "Her name's Riley!" he says and Shane stoped in his tracks, turns around with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Mitchie mentioned someone taking Riley, it didn't make a lot of sense to me what she said but…" he looked at the little girl again. Her eyes filled with tears and then back at the man, he approached him: "Who are you?" he asks and Thomas flinches. 'Gone is the friendly man…' he thinks painfully. It hurt seeing him getting very protective over his wife, his daughter. Shane didn't have a right to, did he?

"My name's Thomas Arlington, I am Mitchie's husband!" he states seeing in the eyes of a totally stunned and shocked Shane Gray.

**A/N: Please Review! Constructive critisizim is apprecitaed also. : )**


	13. Mr Pinky

**A/N: So here you go! Another chapter for today! I am kinda in writing mood I guess so I'll probably have two more chapters up later on because I have ****ALOT**** of AP homework to do. Enjoy!**

**P.S. All of your reviews have been so helpful in letting me know what things I could do to try and improve my writing and also to inspire me to keep writing. So special thanks to all of my reviewers and I hope this and the next few chapters make you happy! =]**

Chapter 11:

Shane felt his heart break: "She's married?" he asked still processing this new information. Thomas didn't like his reaction at all.

"As a matter of fact yes she is, for almost five years now." he said looking at Shane angrily: "She didn't tell you then?"

Shane now looked even more hurt, Thomas guessed it's the five years that had shocked him. Knowing it had been the time when he and Mitchie had spent one last night together.

"And Riley's Mitchie's daughter?" Shane then asked even though he anticipated the answer.

"As a matter of fact yes, she is" Thomas again answers. Forgotten was his intention to tell Shane that Riley was his daughter, that he was supposed to take care of her. Jealousy again gripped his heart as it had when they had walked out of the University building, seeing him leaning on a car, waiting for 'his' girl.

Shane looks at him again up and down, he knew the smell of alcohol very well and the whole impression this man made on him didn't really fit with the image of a perfect husband. He tried to puzzle everything together, tried to remember what Mictchie had said about Riley. Something like, he took her and that she couldn't have stopped him, could it be that Riley had been kidnapped by her own father? Was Thomas the one that was responsible for her swollen eye and all the bruises that covered her body?

He certainly hoped not but seeing Thomas standing there, he had the uneasy feeling that his first impression wasn't that wrong. He didn't want to make him leave though because if he actually had kidnapped Mitchie's daughter, he wanted to make sure little Riley would get back home safely. "Well come on in, I am sure Mitchie will happy to hear that you're here, you can call her if you'd like…" he offered hoping the man wouldn't back away now.

He didn't and Shane showed him the way, awaited him at the entrance and showed him the bathroom. He also gave him new clothes and invited him to stay the night. While Thomas was cleaning himself up, Shane's attention turned to the little girl. "Hey Riley, your Mommy misses you, do you know that?" he said in a low, cheery voice to make the fearful girl feel at ease.

"Mommy!" was all the response he got. Shane realized that something was really wrong, little Tess never had been this shy, with four years they had to be careful so she didn't do any stupid things just out of curiosity and this girl was standing there, hugging a small stuffed animal tightly and looking at him fearfully. He sat down on the floor, looking at her: "What is his name?" he asked and points with his finger at the rabbit.

"Pinky!" the little girl answers squeezing her little rabbit a little more.

"Hi Mr. Pinky I am Shane, a friend of Riley's Mommy…" he said smiling at the girl: "Does he say hi to me? Or is he shy?" he then asked.

"He's shy because of Daddy, he doesn't like him talking!" she says low, whispering almost.

Shane shivers: "What does your Daddy do when Mr. Pinky talks?" he asked quietly. Riley looked down at Pinky: "What does Daddy do…?" she repeats his question without answering it. But Shane doesn't need her answer because at that moment he detected bruises on her arm. Shocked he got up dialling the number he knew by heart, it was Mitchie's cellphone, hoping she still had the same number or her phone with her.

Dan Torres had almost reached Obispo when Mitchie's cellphone rang, he picked it up instantly: "Torres!" he answered.

"Mr. Torres, why are you, uh anyway I have Riley!" the person on the other end of the line said. But it's not Thomas, Dan knows this voice: "Shane? How?" he asked surprised and confused.

"She's been beaten by her father am I right, he beats her?" Shane asked furious.

Dan swallows, it wasn't the best idea to tell Shane Gray of all people that Mitchie's husband had been abusing her and her daughter. He could only imagine the rage of the young man against his own father who had abused him as well. "Shane just keep her with you, safe okay, I am on my way, only another five miles and I am with you, just don't do anything stupid!"

"Stupid, that man doesn't have the right to breath, she's what, three years old? And Mitchie?" he certainly had taken the older man's reaction for a yes.

"Shane please listen to me, Mitchie is safe and as long as you can keep an eye on Riley she is as well. Don't make her watching this, keep her occupied, play with her, call Mitchie, let her talk with her mother, just please don't hurt anyone, don't, I'll call the police and we'll be with you in a few, promised!"

Shane knew the Dan was right but still the rage he felt towards that man was incredible. He looked over to Riley who was watching his every action. Her eyes full of fear and that made him calm down: "Hurry!" was his only response putting down the phone.

He then called the hospital, winking little Riley over…


	14. Relief

Chapter 12:

Mitchie had been so relieved to hear her little girl's voice that if Shane had been there she would have kissed the hell out of him. With tears in her eyes she listened to Riley.

"I've gone on a long trip with daddy. He said, Riley this is Obispo, it's were your mommy used to live when she was a small girl like you."

Mitchie had to smile at her daughter because she always loved to repeat whatever adults would say. "Yeah that's true and I am sure you're going to see your grandpa in a few minutes, you can go with him okay? Don't go with daddy, go with your grandpa understood?" she asked and Riley nodded hear head.

Mitchie had to smile as there was no reply. She was almost certain that her girl was now nodding her head. "Riley did you understand? You have to go with your grandpa okay? Say yes because I can't see if you're nodding your head or shaking it."

"Yes mommy!" the little girl exclaimed: "I'll go with grandpa." she promised.

"Good and now be a nice little girl and hand the phone over to Shane okay?" Again no reply from her little girl and she already wanted again to remind her that she wasn't able to see if she's nodding her head when Shane interrupted.

"Mitch, she's fine. Your father will be here in any minute, I called him, well actually I called your cell, but he'll be here soon…" He went silent and Mitchie's heart pounded.

She wanted to tell him so badly. She feared that Thomas would tell Shane that Riley was his as soon as they wouldn't let him take her back. She didn't want Shane to find it out like that, he'd be furious. "Shane please keep her away from him, please, she shouldn't see this, she won't understand, she thinks…" she almost told him. Her hand that was holding the phone was shaking. "Take her to the pool house!" She then ordered, that would keep Riley away from Thomas.

"No Mitchie, I won't let him get away so easily, what he did…"

"Shane stop it, she has seen enough, take her to the pool house and stay with her until my Dad is gone with Thomas, promise me you will!" Her voice now demanding.

"Your wish is my command Mitch!" He muttered and hung up angry without saying anything else. Leaving Mitchie laying alone in her hospital room hoping things would not get any worse, hoping she would be the one telling Shane that he was Riley's father whenever she felt ready to do so.

Shane looked at the girl, sighing. Mitchie was right, she wasn't supposed to see any of this. He still heard the shower running in the bathroom, so he picked up the little girl and her rabbit and left for the pool house, talking to her low, reassuring her that everything will turn out fine and that they will go see her mother the next morning.

While he talked to her she layed her head down on his shoulder, closing her eyes, sniffing a little. "Mommy…" she whispered and Shane caressed her back, again reassuring her.

"We'll go see her tomorrow, I promise!" he said and felt her nodding. When he tried to put her down on the bed so she could sleep he realized she was clinging on to his shirt. He didn't want to wake her up because she was already asleep so peacefully, so he layed down next to her, watching over her sleeping.

She was beautiful as her mother, the same little snub nose, the same cute little butt chin, but her eyes were of hazel with some green sparkles around the iris and her hair was dark brown, almost black, something that really didn't make her look like Veronica at all, nor Thomas. He was still comforting her when he saw the blue light from the police cars.

Cautiously he got up and stood by the window, watching two police officers escort a quite angry Thomas Arlington. Then he saw Dan Torres approaching, Mitchie must have called him, told him that Shane was probably in the pool house with Riley. He opened the door and waited for the father of the girl he still loved…


	15. Sleeping Riley

Chapter 13:

"Shane, where's she?"

Shane looks back into the pool house: "She's sleeping…" he says low welcoming Mitchie's father: "Come on in."

Dan approached the bed watching the little girl sleeping ever so silently. He had only seen her once and back then she had been a lot smaller than now. Almost three years had passed since he had last seen his daughter and his grandchild. He caressed her cheek, smiling. She reminded him a lot of Mitchie when she was at that age even though she looked quite different.

"I have to bring her to the police station." He said while already trying to pick her up when Shane stoped him. "No she needs to sleep." He said eying Dan Torres suspiciously.

"She had a ruff day, she needs to sleep." Dan looked at the young man. "She needs to see a doctor Shane, we need proof, we need everything we can get so we can lock him up forever."

That Shane did understand but still he didn't want to interrupt the girl's sleep. "I'll come with you." He said without having really thought about it. Dan looked at him a little surprised about his sudden concern for the little girl. He watched Shane picking up Riley very careful so she wouldn't wake up and he had to admit that there was more to Shane Gray than he thought. In that moment he didn't look like the spoiled brat he used to portray when he was younger.

The both men left the Gray residence and drove to the police station. Shane didn't let go of the little girl for a moment, cuddling her in his embrace he watched her sleep. Dan got curious. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" He looked at the young man shortly before concentrating on the streets again.

"No ask away." Logan just replied since his attention fully focused on the child in his arms.

"What's it between the two of you, I mean Mitchie and you?" With that he caught Shane's attention. He looked at him surprised. "Okay maybe I do mind…" He quipped in feeling uneasy now. There was only one person he could talk about his feelings for Mitchie Torres and that was Mitchie herself.

Dan didn't push, he just shrugged his shoulders: "It's okay, I was just curious…" He said and silence again settled on the three of them when Shane suddenly started to talk.

"I fell in love with her, it was weird because I actually hated her, I blamed her for Tess' death and I made her suffer the year afterwards but then again I really liked the person she had become. She seemed so strong and tough on the outside but sometimes one could see it in her eyes that she wasn't at all and I felt the need to protect her but then again. I was so angry and so I was the one. I should have protected her from…" he sighs: "I made a lot of mistakes…" Dan nodded in agreement.

Shane stared outside the window for a while. "I guess it started to change when I lost the record label for the band and Mitchie helped me figure out how to deal with stress without getting stoned. She was there for me when I needed her the most and while no one else was…" he confided.

Dan hadn't known that Shane was having a drug problem after Connect 3 broke up. For the first time he realized that maybe Shane's life wasn't so great at all. Maybe his impression of that boy was completely wrong, maybe he never has been that spoiled brat he thought he was.

There were things Mitchie had never talked to him about and one of these things was her relationship with Shane. He didn't even knew they were seeing each other until it had been over.

"One day after Uncle Brown was charged with Tess' murder, she was been out when I called her and something went wrong, she got kidnapped or so we thought. She had left her cell on so I heard where they were heading, I did the only thing that came to my mind at that point and…" he had to smile at the thought: "I knocked out an FBI officer!"

"An FBI officer?" Dan asked in disbelief. "Mitchie had been kidnapped by an FBI officer? If I had known what she did all day I would have gone crazy, that girl certainly risked a lot after Tess' death, way too much for a father to take!" Dan shook his head still smiling.

Shane was laughing now. "Yeah that she did!" He grew silent again before going on: "That day we kissed and that freaked the hell out of us…" He looked down at the small girl. Dan didn't say a word, clearly aware that the younger man was now deep his thoughts.

"She didn't trust me though which probably was my fault. I've done so many things to hurt her the year before, how could she be able to trust me after all that? And I told her I wanted her dead because again I was left alone, being left, I just couldn't do anything about it, everyone I love leaves sooner or later…" Shane suddenly came back to reality when the car came to a stop in front of the police station. He blushed slightly realising what he had been talking about and with whom. But Dan didn't say a word, he just smiled understandingly.

Shane then waited until the Dan opened the door for him, getting out of the car with a still sleeping Riley in his arms.

**A/N: Want more chapters?...With 5 reviews, I promise to give you 3 more chapters on my next update =]...but you gotta REVIEW! =]**


	16. I Need This Nightmare To Be Over

Chapter 14:

It was actually a good idea that Shane accompanied Dan because the local sheriff did want details about how he had found out that something was off. Shane told the man that Thomas had looked awful, like he hadn't changed his clothes in a while and that he had smelled of alcohol. He told him that he knew Thomas from when he once visited Mitchie in LA and had guessed that he was a friend of hers and he had offered him to crash on his couch. That was when he had seen the crying girl on the backseat of Thomas' car and how he had gotten suspicious because Mitchie had mentioned Riley when he had visited her earlier. The sheriff and Dan listened to him and especially Dan was again surprised about how much he didn't know about his daughter's life.

Shane then told them about the bruises and that he knew instantly that he had been right. "I know… I can tell which bruises are from falling of the stairs and which you get from being hit." he said his eyes focusing on the girl again: "She definitely didn't fall of the stairs."

The sheriff knowing about Shanes background nodded: "That certainly will help getting him locked up thank you Mr. Gray." he then focused on Dan: "You better get her checked up, who knows what that bastard has done to her…"

Dan nodded and looked at Shane, he didn't even had to ask it was obvious the young man wouldn't let Riley out of his sight, he was totally engrossed with her. "Shane come on I need this nightmare to be over…" Shane nodded thankful that he did let him accompany him, got up and followed him back to the car.

"Do you think if we're at the hospital that she might be able to stay with Mitchie when the check up is over?" he asks.

Danhe noticed while checking the clock in the car. "But you can call her, tell her that everything is alright." he offered and handed him his phone which Shane took thankfully.

He remembered the number he had dialled before and after changing a few words with one of the nurses, telling her that he and Dan will stop by in a few, he was connected with Mitchie's room. She picked up almost immediately.

"Dad for God's sake couldn't you call any later?" she asks angry and obviously worried.

"First of all I am not your Dad and second we only have left the police station like two minutes ago and third, I can't think of any third…" he gave in his voice softening then: "Riley's alright, sleeping like an angel, we're on our way to the hospital…"

As soon as Mitchie wanted to ask if she really was alright he quipped in: "Don't worry she'll be fine, a few bruises that's it, the sheriff needs the report though." he explains to her and hears her letting go breath that she's been holding in.

"Uhm Shane?" her voice was low so he almost thought he imagined the words, she sounded sad and her voice was shaking.

"What?" he asks his voice soft, trying to encourage her to tell him whatever it was.

"Tell the doctors that they have to check, they…" she sniffed and took a deep breath: "If he had any sexual contact with her" she had said it as fast as she could, with her eyes closed. When Shane didn't react at all, she started to explain: "I caught him, the other night, he was…" she bit her lip. "He was touching her and kissed her not in a way he's supposed to kiss her…"

Shane was sitting in the car listening to her words feeling his stomach turn and knot and then he said something he hadn't intended to do but it just slipped out. "How could you let him do that, how could you possibly let him do such things to her?" he almost screams in the phone causing Riley to stir. She's the only reason why he calmed down almost instantly. Before Mitchie was able to respond in any way he apologized: "Uhm sorry, I am just, that's…"

All he got from her was a heartbreakingly: "I know…"

Mitchie felt weird, Shane was looking after his own child without knowing it was his. He was taking care of her… The way he had talked about Riley made her heart melt but it hurt at the same time. If she just would have found the courage to tell him about her pregnancy five years ago, maybe they would have been able to work it out, maybe their life would have turned out a lot better than it has. No she was sure about that, even if she would not be together with Shane, Riley would have had the loving father she deserved. "Shane I…" she started but gets disrupted from him.

"Mitchie we're here, see you in a few, hopefully." he said and hung up leaving Mitchie starring into the darkness, finishing her sentence without him being able to her it, "need to tell you something…"


	17. Reunion

Chapter 15:

Dan and Shane accompanied the little girl while she was checked through by the doctors. When Shane asked the doctors to check also if she was hurt the way Mitchie had mentioned, everyone in the room got silent. He starred back at the doctor. "Her mother mentioned seeing him kissing her, pinning her down to the bed…" he explained causing Dan to turn extremely pale now understanding why Shane had screamed at his daughter. How could she possibly let him do this?

The doctor nodded and checked Riley for any kind of injuries, to everyone's relief they weren't able to find any. When the doctor let them dress Riley again Shane asked: "Her mother is here, second floor room 247, can we go visit her despite the odd hour, she has been extremely worried about her girl." he explained.

The doctor first shook his head but Shane just wouldn't accept a no for an answer. "Please for both of them, haven't they gone through enough?" he asked. He looks at the doctor intently, he would even offer money if that would help but he doesn't have to. "Okay I think in this case we could do this one exception, Ms. Arlington is going to be released tomorrow anyway…" he recalled and Shane nodded.

Dan couldn't believe what just happened. He was sure if he would have been the one asking they wouldn't have given in. He smiled at the younger man. "I think I'll leave you to bring her the good news!" he said smiling: "I'll go home and catch some sleep, tell her I'll stop by tomorrow morning." Shane nodded.

When Dan almost had left the room he called out to him. "Mr. Torres?" Mitchie's father stopped and turned around, looking at him questioning. "Thanks." was all Shane then said, smiling: "For everything."

Dan smiled knowingly: "Just look out for them okay?" he said and Shane was happy to agree.

Riley who was now awake was watching her grandpa leaving clinging on with one hand to Shane's shirt. She was head over heals in love with her saviour. Shane has to smile when he sees it. "Hey little one…" he says realizing they forgot her little rabbit Pinky in the pool house. Hopefully she wouldn't realize he thought silently picking her up. "We're going to see your Mommy now…" he explained to her receiving a broad smile from her. "Mommy!" she exclaimed happily making Shane laugh.

He went upstairs with her, walked down the darkened corridor until he reached room 247. He didn't knock, he opened the door silently. He smiled when he saw Mitchie already looking their way. She got out of bed immediately, not caring that she didn't wear socks nor shoes and the floor was more than cold, and run up to him: "Riley!" she exclaimed happily and took the little girl in her arms. "My little baby…" she whispers in the girl's ear holding her closely, tears streaming down her face. "I was so worried about you." she confessed.

Riley giggled. "I was so worried about you." she said matching the tone of her mother's voice.

Shane stood back, observing the scene. He thought about leaving them as this moment seemed much too private.

"Don't you dare!" he heard her right behind him and he turned around to face her. He had to smile when he saw her standing there with her daughter in her arms. 'Beautiful' he thought. Even though both of them were covered with bruises it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Even though it was obvious that they have gone through horrible things they still were a family, the two of them on their own. They just belonged together and it seemed like nothing could tear them apart.

His heart ached for a family like that, it's what he always had wished for himself. But he also was afraid that it wouldn't work out because as he said to Dan Torres, everyone he loves leaves sooner or later…

He realizes Mitchie was watching him, probably thinking about where his thoughts had gone and he was right because in the same second she asked him. "What are you thinking about?"

She had seen the hurt expression on his face, one he barely showed. He wasn't the kind of man who complained about his life, he didn't even tell anyone that he was abused at home, that his father even let him choose the belts with which he was going to hit him. He hadn't even told Jason, no one…

Looking now into his eyes she could only guess that he was thinking about his family, how destroyed and fucked up it was. She felt sorry for him and guilt was nagging at her and Riley on her arms was like a constant reminder of that guilt. She could have offered him a family, one that would have cared about him…


	18. Confession

Chapter 16:

"Uhm Shane I really need to talk to you…" she confessed feeling uneasy. She turned around and sat Riley down on the bed: "Get some sleep darling." she whispered but Riley now was wide awake and wasn't thinking about getting to sleep at all. Mitchie looked at Shane again, only shortly to make sure he was still there. He was and in that moment approached her.

"Come on Riley I'll even tell you a story!" he offered and she grinned up at him, laying down instantly. Mitchie was surprised, Riley was never easy to put to bed, never had been. She sat down on the bed as well pulling the sheets over the two of them, now for the first time realizing how cold her feet have become. She shivered and listened to Shane as he told Riley a story she'd never heard of.

He didn't finish it as soon as Riley was soundly asleep he looked up seeing in the questioning eyes of the girl he had missed so much in the past years. "I write books for children, I started when little Tessy was little. Jason said they're great and so I gave it a shot." he explained. "They actually sell pretty well…" he smirked looking down at Riley: "And they put everyone asleep, except you I guess…"

She has to laugh a little both out of surprise, relieve and God knows what feelings she had felt in that moment. Then Shane grew more earnest again, eying her: "So what's so important you want to talk to me about in the middle of the night?"

That made Mitchie's smile fade instantly and she looked down on her hands. She just didn't know how to explain. "Five years ago you showed up in LA." she said low, her voice suddenly hoarse. Shane was surprised that she wanted to talk about what has happened between the two of them. "Yeah we spent the night, I left, I was a moron." he quipped in, he didn't want her to blame him, he already had blamed himself enough for that stupid incident. He still couldn't tell why he had left her in the hotel room alone, he didn't know, maybe he was scared, maybe he was angry, maybe…

He realized she hadn't said anything else and that she seemed kind of nervous about what they're talking about. "At the time were you already together with Thomas?" he then asks out of curiosity. Her answer was no and she looked at him. "You were my first." she confessed adding, "Well if you forget about the one time I can't remember with Jason."

Shane wanted to vanish into nothing in that very moment. 'Her first time, oh he certainly had made her remember that one!'

"I am sorry Mitch." he whispered truly being sorry for what he had done to her. "I can't explain why I have left you in that hotel room, I don't know why I did it and I know that I shouldn't have." he took her hands in his, "I am really sorry!" he said again realizing she was crying now.

"No Shane, I am sorry, I did the most horrible thing I could have done…" she exclaimed taking her hands away from his. "You'll hate me forever for that!" she was now sobbing making Shane even more confused about her reaction.

"Mitch what's wrong, why, what? I don't hate you!" he exclaimed looking at her. "I can understand that you had to turn me in, it's okay, really…" he said trying to calm her down but somehow he just seemed to make her even more angry with herself.

"No, no, no, don't you understand?" she asked looking at him, hoping she didn't need to say it, hoping he would figure it out by himself.

But his expression was still confused. "Mitchie what's going on, please I don't get it…" he then asks low, almost not daring to ask her as she was really starting to freak him out.

She sighed, catching for breath: "That night in LA…" she starts again taking a deep breath: "was the night when…" again she stopped talking, nervously biting her lip. Shane looked at her, looked to her side where Riley was sleeping. 'She could not actually meaning that, or could she?' Shane got pale, looked again back at Mitchie who finally got the courage to finish the sentence.

"It was the night when Riley was conceived." She confirmed his thoughts, leaving him speechless.

**A/N: MUAHAHAHA!!!!!....lol thanx for all of the reviews everybody! As I had promised you...there are the 3 chapters! =] Hope you liked them...and sorry for the clifhanger. 6 more reviews and you will get more! REVIEW!**


	19. You Can't Do This

**A/N: SORRY! :( My school decided to have an exam week and I'v been studying like crazy. Though im pretty sure I failed my French exam lol. Anyways here is what I got to write yesterday because of Veterans Day. Enjoy and remember to REVIEW! ILY! :)**

Chapter 17:

He was just starring at her, then down at 'HIS' daughter. Riley was HIS daughter. Mitchie had lied to him for five years, well not exactly lied to him but it was equally bad, or even worse... She had not told him that he got her pregnant, nor did she tell him when Riley was born, he had known nothing at all…

It hurt, didn't she trust him or what, did she think he would have been a horrible father, more horrible than Thomas? Did she really think of him that way? Or was she head over heels in love with Thomas and didn't want him to come between them?

He wanted to say something, anything, he opened his mouth several time just to close it again at the lack of words.

Mitchie was starring at him with tears in her eyes. "Shane I am sorry, please, I am sorry." she repeated it like a mantra and then tried to take his hand in hers.

That made Shane come back to his senses and he jumped, away from her. "Don't touch me!" he spat receiving a hurt frown from her.

"Shane please I am sorry, I can't take it back, I can't, I would do things differently this time but I can't, I am sorry that you've missed so much in her life but…" she wanted to explain how she had felt, why she hadn't been able to tell him back when she had found out and why she hadn't told him anything the past four years.

Shane disrupted her. "You should be, your husband has abused MY little girl, he touched her the way no one should and you let him do that! YOU let him do that! What was it, did you think he would make a better father? Did you seriously think he would make you happy, the way we were? How dare you compare the two of us!" he accused her of many more things than he actually wanted. He was hurt and the only thing he knew to protect himself was hurting back and he certainly did.

Mitchie sat there biting her lover lip trying to hold back the tears. He destroyed the little hope she had cherished over the years. The hope that once she would have the courage to tell him they will end up together, that he might propose to her as Thomas had. It was obvious that Shane didn't think of these things. He probably again wished she was dead or something more horrible…

Riley stirred, she had been woken by Shane's loud screaming. She sat up and cuddled closer to her mother. "Don't hit her please!" she whispered staring at Shane in fear.

Shane froze staring at her: "Great!" he said looking at Mitchie. "Now she thinks I am a bastard like Thomas, who she probably still calls Daddy!" The hurt was evident in his eyes and Mitchie wanted to make it go away but knew she couldn't.

When she didn't say a word Shane straightened, still looking in her eyes and with all the courage he could muster, the hurt and anger inside him, he leashed out, made her feel what he felt in that very moment: "You know what I am going to do?" he asked, starring at her: "I am going to make sure that she never has to see that bastard again!" with that he turned around and walked to the door. Just before opening it he stopped, not turning around, staring at the grey wooden door he added: "You'll be hearing from my lawyers."

Mitchie paled, starring at his back. "Shane!" she exclaimed and was out of her bed instantly. "You can't do this, you can't take her away from me, please, she's everything I got left!"

He turned around, his face a perfect mask of stone.

"You'll see what I am able to do Ms. Arlington." he said calm before leaving her for good, closing the door behind him.

**A/N: So good or bad shocker? Evil grin here :)**


	20. Tears

Chapter 18:

The next morning started awful for Mitchie. Having not had much sleep she was being woken up by a police officer at 8 o'clock. He asked her questions about her life with Thomas, what she had seen him doing to Riley and what he had done to her. He pleaded her to say the truth and not hold back at all.

But Mitchie felt now, after Shane's outburst, even more ashamed and guilty for what has happened. Also she feared that whatever she now told the police could be held against her if Shane really would take this to court, if he really would want to take Riley away from her. She still hoped it was just some way to get back to her, as he'd been angry and hurt but she wasn't so sure, not after the way he had looked at her, the way he had said her name…

She watched Riley who was still asleep next to her, the thought of loosing her had freaked her out, the thought of her being with Thomas even more. But the thought of loosing her to Shane was even worse. Not because she feared he would do her any harm, she was sure he would make a wonderful father after she had observed him with Riley, just because she knew she couldn't do anything to stop him.

With Thomas she had known that she will get her daughter back because he did not have the right to keep Riley away from her. The law, the police, her father everyone had been on her side. But Shane did have that right, he was her father and she guessed that the law, after what happened, probably would judge him more dependable than her. The possibility that they will take Riley away from her so she would grow up safely and well-clothed was in her eyes too big.

'Money! It always comes back to money! And Shane certainly has enough of it. Yeah he probably will have the best lawyers from the county or even the best ones from the whole west coast, he'll make sure she'll lose that case!' she thought bitterly and angry. 'How could he do thisto Riley, to me, haven't we suffered enough?'

Protectively she had wrapped her arms around the little girl when her father bolted in with the horrible news. "Mitchie please tell me Shane's not Riley's father!"

Mitchie had looked up and replied sadly. "He is, why?"

Dan Torres stared at her in shock. "You have to be kidding me!" he plumbed down in the chair next to Mitchie's bed, noticing that she cradled her child closer instantly.

"How do you know!" she asks fearing his answer: "Has Shane…" she didn't finish her sentence but her father spoke out the awful truth.

"... filed for taking custody of Riley? Yes he did!" he looked at his daughter with a hurt and yet pitying expression.

"Why did you keep that to yourself, for all those years, even after Thomas started to hit you and Riley, why haven't you just left him, come back home?" he asks accusing her of the mistakes she knew she had made.

She didn't have an answer and she did feel sorry, but she couldn't just go back in time and do things differently.

"He left me at the hotel!" she tried to defend herself. "He just left without a note or anything and we weren't really on speaking terms!"

Her father frowned. "I don't think that this will help you in front of the court!"

"He can't take her Dad, please, she's all I got left, she always had been all I got left from him, he can't take her as well! Besides Riley doesn't even know him, she doesn't know that he's her father! How can I explain to her that she won't see me again even though she's my everything!" Tears started to well up in her eyes and fall down her cheeks.

Dan embraced her, hugged her, tried to calm her down.

"I am sorry darling!" he whispered, he didn't want to upset her but the news that Thomas was not Riley's father had shocked him.

The fact that Shane was and that she has lied to him and everyone else hurt.

"Did anyone else know that Thomas was not Riley's father?" Mitchie shook her head. "No one except me and him, he proposed to me when I found out, he had promised to be there for me, something I didn't think Shane would after he had left me at that hotel room!" she confessed and Dan nodded, understandingly.

"You know that the only way you'll be able to keep Riley for sure is talking to Shane. If he really takes this to court your chances to win are very small! But you two are adults, you should be able to work something out if not for the two of you then for Riley!" he said lecturing. "No matter what has happened between the two of you, you've got a child that really needs both of you and all the love she can get, please Mitchie talk to him and make this right, I don't want to loose my grandchild or my daughter again, and I want to see you smile again, the way things are now…" he shook his head.

Mitchie sniffed, nodding. Her father was right, she knew he was. If it just wouldn't be that complicated…

**A/N: Review!**


	21. Visiting Shane

Chapter 19:

That day Mitchie was able to leave the hospital. Peggy and Nate came to pick her up but she insisted on staying with her father which he was very happy about. Nate and Peggy did understand but didn't leave until they've made sure that she didn't need anything whith which they would be able to help.

In the afternoon finally everything was settled but Mitchie didn't allow herself to rest. She looked at her father who insisted she'd stay in bed. "No I won't! I have waited long enough to tell him about her, I am not going to back down now!" Dan knew that this was Mitchie Torres and not Mitchie Arlington, the girl he had got to know the past day. This girl didn't take no as an answer so he gave in: "But I'll drive you!" he insisted.

So 20 minutes later he stopped in front of the Gray's Estate only reluctantly letting his daughter leave with Riley. "Call me if you need a ride back okay!" he called after her, only receiving a weary smile from his daughter.

Shane was standing at the window, saw her getting of Dan's car, helping her daughter to get out of the car. It was hard for him to think of her as his own child. Everytime he thought of her he thought of Mitchie's daughter, just as he had before she had told him. But watching her he again saw how much she resembled him as well. The dark brown hair a combination of his and Mitchie's, the brown eyes with the green sparkles...

'Luckily she resembles Mitchie more than me!' he thought smiling. Then he asked himself what she wanted from him, probably talking, was he in the mood to talk? Not really! He was still starring down at her when he suddenly realized that she was starring back up at him. Immediately he backed away from the window, his heart racing his breath going just like he had run around for a while. How she had looked up at him had reminded him of their first kiss, when she had looked up at him just right before the canou flipped…

Mitchie had not anticipated that reaction but she was obstinately. She had made up her mind and she wouldn't back away. She had promised herself for Riley's sake not to make such stupid mistakes again. She finally had to face him, talk to him, scream at him, she had to be the old Mitchie again...

She took her daughters hand and walked on right to the door where she rang the bell, almost instantly she heard his voice through the door: "Leave Mitchie I don't want to talk to you, if you have something that needs to be said, tell my lawyer!"

Mitchie didn't say a word she just rang the doorbell again, and again, and again… After a while Riley looked up at her mother. "No one's opening why are you ringing the bell so many times?"

Mitchie kept ringing it and looked down at her daughter smiling: "Because I know that Shane's home and I need him to listen to me!" she explained knowing that Shane probably was able to hear her. "And don't you want to hear another story of his?" she asks and the girl starts jumping up and down next to her: "Let me ring the bell too!" she screams exitedly and Mitchie stopped ringing the bell just for a second to pick her daughter up.

Just right when Riley wanted to press the bell button Shane started talking. Riley hesitated realizing it was a story he started to tell. She looked up at her mother: "Mommy he's telling me a story…" she exclaimed happily and Mitchie nodded. "Seems like you have a place in his heart Sweety!" she says, carressing her hair and let her down again. Shane had stopped, hearing them talk: "Do you want me to go on Riley?" he asks and the little girl nodded, causing Mitchie to smile: "What did I tell you about nodding?" she asks and Shane was able to hear a sudden: "YES!"

He had to smile, that little girl certainly was a smart kid. He was sitting on the floor with his back leaning against the door. He didn't care that his housemaid was looking at him strangely and started to tell Riley a story. But it wasn't really a story, it was more like his own life wrapped up into a story…


	22. FairyTales

Chapter 20:

"There was a prince that had fallen in love with a very, very beautiful princess. Her light brown hair shone reddish in the sun and her eyes were of some beautiful sparkling chocolate brown. She had been the only one looking at him not seing the prince in him but the little boy he was. That impressed him a lot so they became friends. They grew up and one day the prince found out that the princess was already in love. The prince's best friend who was taller, younger, and handsomer and more intelligent than than the prince." he paused hearing Riley rushing him to go on. She liked the story and that made Shane smile.

Mitchie had sat down and was now leaning against the door as she imagined him doing it. She had cradled Riley on her lap caressing her hair, smiling at what Shane told her daughter.

She hadn't known that he had fallen in love with her then but she could remember the time when they were out by the lake, and he was singing her a song. The most beautiful song that was inspired by her and she didnt even know it then. Neither did he.

"The prince was very sad but he he started at least becoming friends with the beautiful princess. Then he got to know the princess' best friend and he was amazed by her. She was beautiful and outgoing and she made the prince forget about the sad things in her life. But hapiness wasn't a thing the prince was able to feel for very long. At home his parents had been cruel, they weren't nice. They wanted him to be perfect but he couldn't. The king was a very angry man and he had made the prince's life very hard. So the prince spent more and more time with the best friend of his princess as she always found a way to cheer him up. But then one day the princess' mother died, they were all very sad and their lifes changed a lot."

Mitchie feld bad, she hadn't realized what was going on at Shane's home, no one had, not even Jason had known what Shane's father had done to him. Looking down at her daughter she found her sleeping in her arms, she has to smile but doesn't say anything to Shane, she wished him to go on with the story.

"The prince started to become quiet and mean as for he had noone to cheer him up anymore. The relationship between the princess and the other prince also broke apart. It was like that that mother had taken all the happyness with her. Then one day when the princess was stuck out in a lake the prince went to her rescue and she had kissed him grateful for his help. That was when they fell in love for each other and started spending more and more time together, planning their future. But the prince never has had the right to be happy so again the princess left him which made the prince bitter and angry. When he saw her some time later with some other man, not a rich man without anything to give her, he was jealous and he had kidnapped her…" there Shane stopped leaving Mitchie breathless.

She hadn't known that even she hadn't been with Thomas back then Shane had been jealous of him. As Shane didn't go on with the story Mitchie quipped in: "But the princess wasn't in love with that man, she had fallen for the prince and seeing him again made her very, very happy. They have spent one night together, enjoyed just to be together but again it ended too soon."

Shane had closed his eyes, was listening to her voice and when she came to the point where he had left he started talking again: "The prince was afraid that again it will end badly, that again the princess will choose someone else over him as he knew he hadn't deserved her and left in that night while the princess was still sleeping. He was sad and mourned for monthes, years, never being happy again as in that one night!"

Mitchie had tears in her eyes, she held on to her daughter and whispered: "I am sorry Shane…" But she didn't receive an answer. She sighed and repeated it, this time louder: "Shane, please talk to me, I am sorry, I am so sorry but I can't turn back time even I want to so badly. If I'd just known why you had left, but I was so scared and hurt that you did. And then I found out that I was pregnant, I even considered an abortion, I was so young, I haven't finished college nor did I have a job, I was so scarred and confused and hurt…" her voice broke remembering the time. "I wished every day that you just happen to show up, take me in your arms, tell me that everything was going to be alright, but you didn't, you just left and coming back just wasn't an option, I don't even remember why, I was stupid, so stupid but there I was, 19 years old and pregnant. I couldn't go through with an abortion because she was everything you left me, that child was everything that made me going. Then Thomas proposed to me, he promised me so many things, beautiful things like a true family, someone who will take care of me and my child, our child. It was the easiest way, I for once just took the easiest way out…"

As she wasn't leaning against the door anymore she hadn't noticed him opening it, looking at her. He didn't touch her but observed her. He just needed to see her, needed to see if she didn't play with him, with his feelings. Seeing her cry made him feel guilty again, maybe filing for custody wasn't one of his brightest ideas. He knew he should have been the one promising her all the things she had wanted back when she found out that she was pregnant. But he hadn't been there, he hadn't known and he couldn't blame her with everything. He was the one who had left, if he had stayed it wouldn't have turned out this way, it probably wouldn't.

"I, I just wish I would have been there, when she was born, seeing her grow up, hearing her first word, seeing her first steps…" he wispered right behind her causing Mitchie to flinch and then look at him with tears in her eyes.

"You don't know how much I wished you were actually there with me when she did!" she says: "Every day when I woke up I was hoping the man lying beside me would be you and not him and when she started calling him Dad, it just felt wrong, I wanted it to be you so badly…" she confessed looking him in the eyes, pleading. She just hoped he'd believe her. "I always wanted it to be you…" she repeated almost so low that she couldn't say if she really said it out loud. "Please Shane forgive me, forgive me for not telling you!" she urged on: "Please!" she begged crying.

Shane just couldn't hold back the tears anymore, seing her so vulnerable, crying and begging him, he just couldn't stand it. Everything he always wanted was to protect her. Protect that vulnerable girl behind the though mask she had been wearing and now all he ended up doing was hurting her, as he always had.

"I'll call my lawyer…" he wispered softly earning a relieved sob from Mitchie. But it wasn't what Mitchie really wanted: "Don't!" she said surprising herself: "It's Thomas name that is written in her birth certificate, I want that to change, I want your name written there!" she explained. "But please don't take her away from me, please!" she looked at him and Shane shook his head: "I never intended on filing for sole custody Mitchie!" he explained low. "Riley needs you, her mother…" he wasn't standing anymore but sitting on the floor as she was, looking her in the eyes. 'And I need you!' he added in his thoughts, but he wasn't ready to tell her that, not yet…


	23. Daddy Wake Up

Chapter 21:

Somehow - even Mitchie had refused at first - Shane has managed to take her to his bedroom to get some rest. There he ordered her to stay put in bed until he would get Riley who had been woken by the two of them earlier and was now exploring Shane's home. When he came back Micthie was already asleep and Shane placed his little girl next to her and put the sheets over the two of them telling Riley she should sleep as well.

"I want you to tell me a story!" she said and looked at him pleadingly and Shane smiled, this time telling her one of the stories he had written earlier for little Connie. It didn't take long until Riley as well was soundly asleep in his bed. He was still sitting on the bed, caressing Riley's hair, observing the two of them. An unknown feeling of happiness and content settled over him, making him feel extremely rich and loved. Tears started to well up in his eyes while he realized that this was everything he had wished for, everything he had dreamt of for a very long time.

He was now caressing Mitchie's cheek, she looked so peaceful now, the frown and the hurt look was gone and on her lips played a small content smile that made his heart jump excitedly: "I love you Mitchie Torres!" he whispered: "I always have and I always will…" He was glad she didn't hear it, he wasn't ready to face it officially, wasn't ready to talk to her about his feelings, about what she really meant to him. He guessed with her it probably was the same. So many awful things had happened between the two of them that they would need time to get adjusted with this new situation.

Still he didn't leave her, just sat there watching the two women who owned his heart until sleep caught him off guard and he plumbed down onto the bed, his hand still on Mitchie's cheek…

When Mitchie woke up later that day she didn't know where she was at first, then realized Shane lying half on top of her and her daughter staring at her smiling: "Morning Mommy!" she exclaims but in a very low voice pointing at Shane: "He's still sleeping!" she whispers.

Mitchie smiles nodding: "Riley I've got something to talk to you about!" she said looking at her daughter with a stern expression on her face. "You remember when I told you two days ago that Daddy is not really your Daddy?" she asked her receiving a nod. She has to smile and was pointing at Shane: "He is!" she said.

Riley looked at Mitchie and then at Shane: "So I can call him Daddy and not Shane?"

Mitchie again: "Yeah if you want to!" she smiled at the smile on her daughters face. "So do we want to wake Daddy?" she asks receiving a low giggle from her daughter. She was amazed at how fast Riley had changed. Back in LA with Thomas she had been all shy and nervous around people she didn't know. But since Thomas wasn't around anymore and Shane had taken her under his wings she seemed like every other four year old girl. Mitchie sat up indicating Riley to do the same and then she started tickling Shane, Riley doing the same.

While Mitchie didn't say a word Riley screamed flutteringly: "Daddy, Daddy wake up, wake up Daddy…"

Shane blinked confused and grabbed Riley almost instantly, tickling her back, then he heard her call him Daddy and he froze, just enjoying the giggling sound of her calling him so. He looked at Mitchie who was smiling at the two of them with tears in her eyes. He looked down at Riley smiling broadly a thought forming in his mind. He didn't want to miss any more things in the life of this little girl, not a second. He calmed her down, placing little butterfly kisses on her cheeks, talking to her low: "Riley I need to talk to your Mommy for an instant, would you mind leaving us a second?" he looked at her.

The little girl looked at her mother and then back to her father a frown on her face: "But don't make Mommy cry!" she pleaded and Mitchie was with Riley almost instantly.

"Riley he's not like Thomas, he won't make you cry, he won't make me cry the way he did, I promise!"

Shane also reassured her: "I promise Riley and later we can go get your little Mr. Pinky okay?" he offered and with that Riley left the two of them.

Shane watched her walking away and then looked at Mitchie, nervously trying to find the courage to ask her what he intended to. She eyed him curiously and so he just blurted it out: "I want you to move in with me, you both!" It was out and he hoped she would say yes but she didn't, not right away so Shane felt like he had to justify his plea.

"I know you can stay with your father as long as you like and that he's pleased to have you back but I've missed so many things in Riley's life I don't want to miss any more of it. I want to have her here when I wake up in the morning and I want to bring her to bed in the evenings and this house is certainly big enough for the three of us! Please move in with me!" he again pleaded.

"Shane I don't want to rush things, I don't know after all that has happened between us…" she mused.

Shane quipped in: "You're going to get your own room, or the pool house, if you need some place away from me, that's okay, I just won't let you go and walk out of my life again, I won't do the same mistake again!" he insisted and he reached her with that because the next thing he knew was that Mitchie's arms were wrapped around him and that she hugged him, sobbing silently but with a big smile on her face.

He hold her in his arms, just enjoying the feeling of being close to her again. "I know a lot has happened between the two of us but I want us to try, just give it a shot…" he whispered in her ear causing her to hug him tighter. He didn't know if this was a yes but he certainly hoped it was…


	24. huge Rooms and Kisses

Chapter 22:

They parted a few minutes later on when Riley peeked through the door, asking why she had to leave when they didn't even talked. It made both laugh and Mitchie called her daughter over who jumped over excitedly on the bed and snuggled herself in between the two of them.

"So Riley do you like this house?" Mitchie asks her little daughter.

"It's huge!" was Riley's only reply, grinning broadly. Shane chuckled at the little girl's remark and hoped that the next question was if she wanted to live with him and he wished for her to say yes. Yet he wished that Riley's answer wasn't the only reason why Mitchie would move in with him.

"Do you want to have a huge room of your own?" he hears Mitchie asking her daughter who stars at her with a stunned expression on her face.

"One of Daddy's rooms?" she turned her attention to him and he nodded: "You can choose one, we can go walk around and you can choose your room!" he offered turning to Mitchie: "You too!" he said and hoped her choice wouldn't happen to be one too far away from him.

Mitchie nodded: "Okay let's do it, right?" she waited for her daughter's agreement which she didn't get.

Instead Riley's hand wandered into Mitchie's and the little girl started pulling her mother out of the bed, then clasping Shane's with her other hand, making him follow her as well. "I want the hugest room there is!" she said laughing: "So huge…" she said looking around trying to decide which direction they should go first.

Shane had to smile and looked at Mitchie who happened to do the same: "She's incredible!" he whispered and got a nod from her in response. Shane hadn't felt happy like this in, forever, he thought and watched his little girl walk through the corridors looking into every room she found.

Mitchie didn't say a word, she just observed the situation and felt somehow relieved but also worried. What if it didn't work out. What if they didn't work out and he started seeing someone else. Would she be able to handle him dating other girls? No, the answer was a certain no! She looked at him again: "If us is not going to work out, what then?" she asks out of the blue what was going on in her mind.

Shane looked at her, saw the fear in her eyes and the only thing he could think of, the only answer he had for this question surprised him and it equally surprised her: "We're going to make this work, I won't let you leave me again Mitchie Torres!" he had stopped walking, Mitchie had as well and they starred at each other. Riley complained loudly but none of them realized so she trailed of by herself, went finding herself a new room.

After a moment of silence and searching each others eyes for any hint of love, still being totally insecure about them, Shane broke the silence: "Do you think you could love me again?" His voice low so he wasn't really sure if she had heard him, when her lips were on his, he assumed she had, or she had just been brave enough to kiss him like that.

Even though he was taken by surprise he kissed her back instantly, enveloping her in his arms, taking her in, feeling so relieved and exited like he hadn't felt in years. When they broke the kiss to catch for some breath Mitchie was looking up at him, smiling: "I can't love you again Shane!" That shocked the hell out of him and he let go of her instantly, but she didn't let go of him: "I can't because I never stopped loving you!" she whispered calming him down again, tears in her eyes: "I always loved you, and only you. Thomas and I were friends, nothing more… I never even had sex with Thomas until…" her voice trailed of, he didn't really had to know details about her marriage, did he!

Shane didn't even realize the meaning of her words, all that echoed in his mind was, that she loved him, still… He pulled her in for another kiss, this one more passionate and demanding When they again broke the kiss Shane smiled: "Would you mind choosing my bedroom?" he asks.

Mitchie has to smile at that: "I won't you little naughty boy!" she replied happily, all the bad memories got lost on her in that moment and she felt saver than she had in years, having his arms wrapped protectively around her.

"Lets go find Riley…" he proposed: "We'll have enough time to celebrate tonight when she's sleeping!" he added sheepishly causing her to laugh out loud.


	25. Taking It Slow

Chapter 23:

The next few days flew by quickly. Shane had helped Mitchie with the dissolving of her old household in LA, paying for it pretty much covered it as they spent the whole time together as a family while some firm took care of the relocation. The three of them enjoyed every minute together and spent their time decorating Riley's new room and some parts of the houses. They finally and completely got rid of every piece that reminded them of Brown, Shane's uncle and soon the Gray's Estate was a more welcoming and homelike place than it ever had been in the years before.

Shane was glad about that change, he had thought of it so many times but somehow never found the time and guts to finally get rid of the past. Together with Mitchie it was done easily and quickly. And it also was symbolic as they had promised each other to just forget the past and to concentrate on them, on Riley and their future together.

When they came to take the closet where his father had kept the belts, Mitchie hadn't said anything she just wrapped her tiny arms around him showing him her support and that she was there with him. Even though she was a lot smaller than him and not as strong as he was, he still felt save and protected. He was so happy with the new situation he couldn't even put it in words. As there wasn't a word that summed it up how he felt, even the words 'I love you' felt too small for the feelings he had for his Mitchie and his daughter Riley…

They took it slow, kissing was okay but Shane insisted that they would wait until Mitchie would be ready for more. She wasn't, not just yet and Shane had been very understanding as soon as he had found out about what Thomas had done to Mitchie when he exceptionally hasn't hit her…except for one night...

_~flashback-WARNING! M Rated Section~_

_Shane was laying on the bed waiting for Mitchie to come out of the bathroom so that he could ask her where she wanted to go for dinner when Mitchie came out in nothing but a small thin white towel. They looked at each other with nothing but lust and passion. He stood and walked to her. She starred him strait into his eyes and then their lips met; gently at first, tentatively exploring each other, whispering murmurs into each others' mouths that only they could understand. The kiss grew deeper, before his arms locked around her waist, pulling her up into his arms. The towel dropped, but she hardly noticed as Shane stepped back and lay her down on the bed. He froze above her, and she forced herself to keep breathing as he surveyed her with naked longing in his eyes. He stretched, yanking his shirt off, and discarding his pants. Mitchie was amused to find he wasn't wearing any underwear._

_Shane slid her legs apart gently with his hands, kissing her soft inner thigh. He cupped her bottom in his palms, then spread her open with his thumbs. He slid his tongue up the slippery path to her clit, and she groaned, reaching out and gripping the edge of the sheet. He worked his way in with his tongue, and god, she'd missed him. The way he knew exactly how to bring her up to her peak with his mouth alone, before his thumb found her clit, helping to finish her off, until she was writhing beneath him. He looked up and grinned cockily, before he reached over to his dresser, and retrieved a condom. Shane quickly put it on and crawled up her body, kissing her again deeply, so she could taste herself in his mouth._

_She couldn't quite believe what was happening as he slid inside her body, stretching her again, filling her with glorious warmth. She moaned, arching her hips up to meet his thrusts as he moved inside her, setting a rhythm. It wasn't long before he lost all control, panting her name and clutching the sheets beside her head. She urged him on in a sultry, soft murmur, and his fingers found her clit again in a rush of sensation. She came against him, biting lightly at his shoulder, and he groaned before letting his orgasm consume him._

_He rolled to his side beside her and gathered her into his arms, releasing a pent-up breath, as if in relief. "I needed that," he sighed. "Needed you." He nuzzled his nose into her neck just before succumbing to slumber. She watched him sleep, and thanked god that Riley was at her grandfathers for the night._

_~End Flashback~_

They were happy, all three of them, enjoying the new life and it's advantages. But reality caught up with them fast, faster than they had expected it.

It was a letter from the court addressed to Mrs. Mitchie Arlington. An invitation for her to appear as a witness in the case of the abuse of Riley Arlington and herself. Since that letter Mitchie's happiness was gone, even though Shane tried everything to cheer her up Mitchie became more and more silent and thoughtful and also nervous, even though everyone assured her that she doesn't have to be.

Shane was angry that she let that come to her and when he realized that she felt guilty and that she didn't really want to tell the court to put Thomas behind bars he was furious.

He had a hard time explaining her that what Thomas had done was not to be taken easily, that he has to be penalized for what he had done to Riley and also to her. He hated that man and he did want him behind bars but Mitchie still remembered him as the good friend he had been before Riley was born and felt bad about it. They started fighting about this subject, every now and then until it got out of hand.

As always when Shane and Mitchie fought they hurt each other more than they actually intended to. They screamed and blamed each other with things that they have decided to leave in the past. But obviously couldn't!

It all ended with Mitchie moving out and her staying with her father until the day came, where she had to face Thomas again. She still visited the Gray's Estate but only to meet up with her daughter who didn't understand the changes at all and was very sad that her mother has left her and her father alone in the big house.

Riley had loved the times where they had been together, her parents kissing and snuggling all the time. She had been so happy about seeing her mother smile and laugh again and now every time she saw her she again had teary eyes and that made the little girl very unhappy. Shane as well, he had tried to apologize but Mitchie had just looked at him, hurt and sad: "I have to sort things out first, I am sorry!" she had apologized and had left again.

Shane could understand that she needed some sort of closure but he wanted to support her as she had done when he had trouble digesting the things his father had done. It broke his heart seeing her so tired and worn out every time she came to visit her daughter. That's when he decided to go with her to court no matter how many times she would tell him to piss off, which was what she had told him when he had announced it to her. But he didn't let her impress him, make him back away, he just looked at her stubbornly: "Please Mitch, I won't say a word, just let me be with you as you have been with me. Please don't take this burden alone, let me in…" he had whispered in her ear, hugging her tightly: "Please let me be there for you!" he pleaded and that was when she had given in.

So when the day of the trial came, Shane drove over with little Riley on the backseat to pick Mitchie up. Peggy had agreed on watching the little girl while Shane and Dan would accompany Mitchie to the court…


	26. God Damn It

Chapter 24:

When they arrived at the court there were Nate and Ella waiting as well as Jason and Peggy who wanted to show their support to their friend. But itchie wasn't really happy about it, she didn't even like her father and Shane being there for her support. She hated telling the judge what Thomas had done while they would be able to listen. She never talked about these things mostly because she still felt terribly guilty about letting him do this things and for making Thomas suffer so he had started with the drinking.

She didn't say a word to any of them and she hadn't talked to Shane since they have left the house but she let him wrap his arms protectively around her. That felt good, to have him here, she had to admit even though she didn't want him there really. If they just could wait outside until she was done.

Just a few minutes later the lawyer from a high prized firm came in and said hello to Mitchie telling her that he will make sure Thomas will get the deserved punishment. Shocked she turned to Shane who already took a step back at the look she gave him: "Out of here Shane, we spoke about this, I have no intention on, just get out of here, now!" she screamed, everyone was surprised and looked at her in disbelief. They didn't follow her trail of thoughts, found it rather confusing.

Shane angry that she was making him look bad in front of all this people hissed back: "Mitch he's my lawyer and I hired him so he'll do everything that needs to be done so MY daughter won't have to see that bastard again!"

Mitchie turned pale: "Your daughter right, because I am not a good enough mother or what? I love her - god damn it - I lay in bed for almost the whole pregnancy so she'll be okay, I took care of her, I was there for her the whole time and so was Thomas. My husband was a wonderful father you know, he even got up in the night to take care of her so I would be able to sleep some, he was a great father!" she looked at him angrily and stressed the words husband and father just so it will hurt him. "Yeah he has done a lot of wrong things but he only did them when he was drunk, God knows you have done stupid things being drunk!" she looked at Jason: "And you, you slept with me thinking of the other girls you were cheating on me with when we were together, don't you see it? Thomas is not a bad man, he needs help not 20 or more years in prison!" with that she turned away, shaking from the anger looking straight into his eyes, Thomas eyes and he smiled wearily.

"Hey Mitchie." he said not daring to look into the others eyes but he had heard what she had said and he was relieved and so he addressed only her: "How's Riley?" he asks the next thing he realizes is being pulled back against a wall with a very angry and hurt Shane in front of him.

"Don't you dare saying MY daughter's name again!" he hissed.

Thomas who was being strangled by Shane choked helplessly: "I am sorry, God damn it I am sorry!" was all he said.

Micthie rolled her eyes, she didn't even bother to part the two man instead she entered the court room all by herself, leaving the whole mob behind. She sat down on one of the chairs and buried her face in her hands. She hadn't noticed it but the lawyer had followed her and sat down next to her: "So whenever he hurt you and the girl he was drunk?" he asks with a voice that was all business.

Mitchie nodded sadly: "And it's my fault he started drinking, he loves me, he always has that's why he has proposed to me when I found out that I was pregnant. I thought it would be easy and I tried to pretend that I am happy but I guess after three years of marriage without even having sex was too much for him to take…" she smiled wearily. "Guess it was just too much to take…" she sighed: "So you can as well put me in jail because I am the one that has caused all this problems…"

The lawyer shook his head: "No that won't help anyone." he smiled placing a supporting hand on her shoulder: "But I think in this case I won't do what Mr. Gray wants, put Mr. Arlington behind bars wouldn't help anyone either… I have a plan, just trust me and tell the truth when they ask you to. Besides maybe it's good if you just once talk about this, about everything. It helps, I promise and your friends and your father, I think they all want and need to hear is what has happened to you…"

Mitchie had listened to the lawyer silently and there was some truth to his words, she knew that, but she didn't know if she could talk about it knowing they'll hear everything. She was afraid that they would decide that she needs to be put in jail, that she needs to be punished, and she feared that Shane would - after hearing everything - take away her little girl so she won't be able to see her anymore… She knew she had done mistakes but she just couldn't lose her daughter.


	27. I Really Want To Kill Him

Chapter 25:

Outside of the courtroom Shane was still fighting with Thomas when Dan finally managed to part them.

"Mitchie is gone and you better get things sorted out with her and not him or do you want Riley visiting you in jail?" he asks his voice stern and calm. "Because that's what will happen if you are going to hurt him!" he tried to talk sense into the angry young man and it worked.

Shane glared at Thomas, angry: "Don't ever get near one of them again!" he hissed and with that he left the small group to calm down, because if he would go and see Mitchie now he was certain it would end in another fight.

Dan looked at Thomas: "And you better do what he says!" he said: "Or I will come after you as well!" with that he looked at the other four friends of Mitchie. "Lets go inside!" he proposed and they followed him without saying a word.

Only Jason stayed, waiting for his best friend, approaching him: "Hey man…" he said and Shane turned around.

"I want to kill him, for what he did to her, to Riley, I really want to kill him…" he muttered glaring in Thomas direction. "You know we haven't had sex except that one time when Riley was conceived, well...a couple nights ago we did but we haven't talked about it and she keeps avoiding me when I try and bring it up. She drives me crazy but she's afraid to make love, somehow, whatever he had done to her, he really…" he went quiet shaking his head in disbelief. "She never even told me what it was what he actually had done to her, except the hitting which was obvious…"

Jason sighed: "She has not talked with anyone about that." He looks at his friend: "Give her time she'll come around but the more you'll push her the more she'll push you, she's not one to back down easily!"

Shane laughed bitterly: "That's what I always thought but look what she had let him do to her and she still protects him when he has no right to be protected…" He shakes his head again: "I just don't understand."

"You should though, you're the one that has been agonized with hits of belts like every other day as a kid and you haven't told anyone about it!" Jason quipped in and that made Shane go silent, suddenly he started to understand that maybe there was more to it than just the abuse, maybe she felt like she deserved this, maybe…

Shane became extremely pale and remembered her telling him that he didn't deserve a treatment like this, and he never had told her that she didn't deserve it either. No one ever tried to talk to her about this as they just assumed that she didn't want to talk about it. "Oh my God." he whispered leaving Jason at a loss.

When Shane started walking to the courtroom his friend followed, hoping he wouldn't do anything stupid, but the expression on Shane's face was determined and that made Jason fear for his friend. "Please Shane don't do anything stupid!" he pleaded which made Shane stop in his tracks.

"I have been stupid and I am going to make this up to her." he said turning around to face his friend: "Thanks Jason, for letting me see…" A small smile played on his lips and Jason felt relieved.

"You got me worried man!" Jason said smiling as well. "Thought you're going to kill Thomas right away or something like that!"

Shane shook his head and shrugged his shoulders: "Wouldn't help Mitchie!"

Together they enter the courtroom realizing everyone was already inside and that the hearing was about to begin…


	28. The Whole Story

Chapter 26:

Mitchie had turned around and saw Shane entering with Jason trailing behind. Nervously she bit down her lower lip. What if he'll blame her after this, what if he just stopped loving her. She didn't think she could deal with that, live without him anymore. She was surprised when he looked her in the eyes and a smile, that smile he only wore for her, played on his lips. Her heart sped up just a little and she wished he could be right there next to her. But he wasn't allowed to, he had to take a seat in the visitor area. She sighed and turned her attention to the now entering judge.

First all the talking was done by her lawyer and then Thomas defender. It was very quiet in the room and Mitchie hated it. This nervous silence that has settled over the room made her feel uneasy steadily thinking of what she was going to do. Then suddenly she was put back into reality feeling her lawyer's hand on her shoulder: "Just tell them your mind." he said low nodding to the table and chair that were placed directly in front of the judge.

She got up, unsteady, looking over to Thomas, trying to put on a smile but she failed. When she pulled out the chair the sound it make was horrible loud so she flinched but then sat down, looking up at the judge uneasily.

Shane could tell that Mitchie wasn't feeling well, that she fought a fight with herself and he felt bad as he wasn't there to support her, but maybe she really had to fight this alone, maybe it was the only way they could finally move on. He certainly hoped it would help her.

The judge, a woman about 40 years smiled encouragingly at her, she asked if Mitchie's details were right and when Mitchie agreed to everything she lay down the paper where they were written on it and picked up her glasses to polish them: "So Ms. Arlington, would you mind telling us the whole story, what exactly has your husband done to you and your daughter?" the judge asks placing her glasses on her nose again, looking at the sad girl curiously.

Mitchie hesitated a second, looked down on her hands: "I think first you have to know that Riley, my daughter is not Thomas Arlington's real child. I was 19 years old when I found out that the man I loved hooked me up in a night we have spent both being wasted and parting badly. I didn't think we could ever make it work, it was everything so complicated, our past and I have lost my faith totally. Then there was Thomas, at that time he was the best and probably only friend I had, I knew he had a thing for me since we first met but I also knew that I could never feel the same for him. Still after I have told him everything, about being pregnant and I told him a lot, I was so scarred, I didn't know if I should have this baby, I mean I was 19 years old and still going to college. A baby just changes everything. Thomas did the most honourable thing, things that most boys that knock up their girlfriends don't. He asked me to marry me…" she looked at Thomas with sorrowful eyes.

"He had promised to take care of me and make this work so I could have the baby and he promised to threat her like his own child. It was easy to give in on that, I didn't gave it a thought, I had, my relationship with Riley's father always had been complicated and I ran from that, took the easy way out. So Thomas and I got married, he always said that he loves me enough for the both of us but I realized that this is just not possible." tears welled up in her eyes. "I wanted it to work out and he had done everything to make it work. When there were complications he had been there for me and he had been a loving husband. He'd been really sweet all the nine month through until Riley was born. He was at the hospital with me, saw her being born, in many ways he's her father as Shane is…" she turned around, saw into Shane's eyes, tried to apologize for the hurt he must feel now. She saw it, the tears, his expressions and she let out a sob, turned back to the judge, she had started with this, now she had to finish it, she had to tell them everything…


	29. I Need To Know That You're Happy

Chapter 27:

"There were lots of times were I imagined my life to be perfect, I told myself and it's what I wanted to believe but I couldn't betray myself because I wasn't truly happy. I always missed the man I couldn't be with because of my own stupidity. I was afraid of telling him about Riley, that he has a daughter, I was afraid of even seeing him again because he has the might to break me and I was so close to breaking. When I left San Obispo years ago it was because I just couldn't handle things anymore, it was too much, the realization that Tess was gone forever even though I've found the man who had done it. How much I've have lost over the time, because of Tess's death and my mother leaving again, it just was too much…" tears were falling down her cheeks, her hands pulled into fists so the white knuckles were seen, cutting herself with her own nails.

"I never loved Thomas, he was a friend, nothing more, we rarely kissed, we never had sex." she almost choked it out biting her lips. She didn't dare to look into anyone's eyes.

Thomas quipped in: "Does she really have to tell all this, don't you see how painful it is for her?" He felt sorry for her, for so many things: "I tell you what I've done, how it started, you shouldn't put her through this, I made her suffer enough." His outburst surprised everyone!

The judge thought it over, looking at the small women who was obviously fighting against her falling tears and then looking at the man that was accused of abuse. He really seemed like a good man as the woman had told and he obviously cared. "Okay but if he tells anything wrong you will disrupt him, understood?" she looked at Mitchie who nodded. Then the judge looked over to Thomas: "So please tell us what you have done!"

Thomas swallowed: "I remember the first time…" Mitchie flinched thinking back to the exact same time. "I came home from work, frustrated as no matter how hard I worked there didn't seem to be enough money for the three of us and we had some serious money problems which Mitchie knew about. Anyway when I came home she was in the living room with Riley, they watched some TV. It was a documentary on MTV with Kevin Gray and his son Shane. I wasn't stupid, I knew who Riley's true father was, I have been with her when Shane had visited her in LA and I knew that they had a history. When I saw her watching him on the screen with tears in her eyes, obviously hurt, I felt the anger against him the first time. But then I saw small Shane Gray and small Riley and they just, she looks so much like him, in many ways and that hurt. I really loved that girl as she was my own, I told myself that she is because I was there, I saw her being born but that day I saw it rubbed in my face that she isn't." he paused looking at Mitchie, his lips trembling.

"That was the one and only time when I hurt her without being drunk. I have…" he stopped talking, he didn't want her to relieve the things he had done to her. But he knew she did, she was sitting there with her eyes closed, tears searching their way out of under her eyelids: "I am so sorry Mitchie." he managed to say and shook his head. As he didn't seem to go on Mitchie did.

"He had approached me, taken my hand and made me follow him. I have seen the anger in his eyes and could only assume that it was because of me watching that show. He, he led me into our bedroom, he closed the door, locked it, that was when I started to feel uneasy, I backed away from him…" she took a deep breath. "He had said that it was time that we remember what a marriage means, and that I have to fulfil my part too. I did, I slept with him, he didn't force me all the way but he knew I didn't want to and he wasn't tender, he had been rough and kind of…" she swallowed: "marked me." After she said that she heard some chairs and murmurs from behind her, when she turned away she saw that Shane was on his way to approach them, Jason tried to hold him back.

Shane was angry and overwhelmed by the things he had heard only seconds ago and stormed into the front of the courtroom, officers following him instantly.

Before he even reached the front of the courtroom Dan caught him, stopped him: "Sit down!" he ordered the young man in a stern voice. Shane did want to say something but he realized that it wouldn't help at all and so he sat down, looking directly in Mitchie's eyes, his heart shattering into thousend little pieces. He had been so relieved when she had said that they never had sex, he knew that to feel that way was stupid, idiotic, but he couldn't help it. When she then told that he had forced her to have sex and that he hadn't even been gentle and caring, it made him furious but then again it hurt his ego as well as Mitchie had let him. He was confused, all this different feelings that changed in the matter of seconds, it drained him...

After the room got silent again Thomas went on: "When the anger faded and she was lying next to me crying I realized what I've done and I left for a bar and got really drunk, and this started to become a habit, I was afraid of going home because I could catch her watching another documentary again or looking at pictures, I was afraid of loosing it if she does and do the same I have done the other night. So I stayed away, got drunk. If I got home then only because I was so drunk that I really didn't know what I was doing anymore. I never remembered hitting them, I only remember when I sobered up seeing them beaten and bruised, it was like a vicious circle, I again felt guilty and again went to the bar to drink, came home to beat them up and so on, I tried a few times to stop, I even called some help but then again I was drunk and didn't feel like it was that necessary. When I was sober I talked with Mitchie about it, she tried to help me, no matter how hard I hit her, I guess she feels guilty as well..." now he looked at her, addressed her: "You don't have to be Mitchie, marrying you was my decision, I knew that you don't love me, it was naive of me to think that you would ever forget him but still it was my decision, my decisions, my hands that have done the damage, you stop blaming yourself!" he ordered his voice loud, shaken and desperate. "Stop blaming yourself." he repeated more quietly.

Mitchie starred at him: "How could I, I let you hurt her, she was so small and didn't understand and you hit her and I let you." she whispered, she felt like it was only him and here now.

Thomas shook his head: "No Mitchie, you never just let me do these things, you always tried to protect her but she did the same, whenever she heard you cry she came out of wherever you have hidden her just like the last night, she came and she probably knew what will happen, she knew that I will stop hurt you."

Mitchie started to sob: "Whenever she was around you stopped hurting me but I should have been the one. She was little Thomas, she didn't really understand, she didn't know that I deserved it!"

With that Thomas jumped up angry for her being so stubborn: "Mitchie you didn't deserve this, neither did Riley!" he screams at her. This takes her by surprise but she realized that he meant it. "You mean you don't blame me for not loving you the way I should have?" she asks low and Thomas shakes his head, telling her he doesn't.

"I never expected you to." he admits and looks at her: "I am sorry that I couldn't stop, I am sorry I broke my promise but I want you to know that I am better now, I haven't drunken since that night and I've got myself help, I am going to be okay with everything that they will order me to do todayas I really deserve it. But I need to know that you are okay first. I need to know that you're happy now."

Everyone in the room was quiet, their attention drawn to Mitchie, awaiting her answer.


	30. I Hadn't Really Planned This

Chapter 28:

Shane sat next to Jason, he was incredible calm which made Jason worry about his friend. Shane never was this calm, never had been, he wasn't the type to just sit there and listen but that's what he was doing and he listened carefully.

'I was right, she's punishing herself, she thinks she's responsible for HIS actions.' he thought bitterly. It made it easier to understand why she had been defending her husband against him. But the words she had said, had hurt him nevertheless. How could she name another man Riley's father, he wasn't, he hadn't been part of creating that little beautiful girl. She wasn't his blood and he wasn't supposed to be her father, but he couldn't really blame Thomas for trying to be but for failing. 'Yeah Thomas had failed.' That thought somehow soothed him and sitting in that courtroom, listening to their story, to what has happened to Mitchie these past four years, he started realizing that blaming anyone for things that already have happened didn't help, living in the past, missing the time he wasn't able to spend with his daughter, that he hadn't been able to protect her and Mitchie; it occupied him, it consumed him…

Now that Thomas was asking Mitchie if she's happy now, he realized that what really mattered was the future, the time he was able to spend with them, if he didn't screw up again. If he'd stay this time and try whatever he had to so they would stay with him, forever. That's what he wanted and suddenly his heart started bumping flutteringly.

Still everyone was waiting for Mitchie's answer who didn't answer, she was biting her lip, not knowing what to say. Was she happy now? She didn't even know what will come, she was too afraid to think of the future having experienced what it might bring. She was no longer naïf, she had left that part of herself behind when Tess died. But now she was a hurt and insecure young mother who didn't only have to take care of herself but of her daughter as well. She knew Riley's answer would have been a no. She would want her Mommy back with her Daddy in the big house. She had told her that when she'd been visiting her the day before and it had brought tears to her eyes. But Mitchie had seen Shane's hurt glance when she had said that Thomas was Riley's father and as she knew her Shane the problems have only begun now. She was sure he wouldn't forgive her that so easily. And the thing was, that only he could really make her happy, the days they had spent together, as a family, that was what made her happy. Being a family was what had made her little girl laughing and talking like a normal four year old, which had brought more happiness to Mitchie than she had ever imagined to experience. Seeing Riley laugh, giggle, seeing Shane wearing the exact same expression on his face, the laughing sparkling eyes…

The judge brought her back to reality: "Ms. Arlington, would you mind answering this question?" Mitchie looked up at her, shaking her head: "I don't know the answer, I don't know what the future brings…" she looked at Thomas. "It's not easy to sort this mess, I've done mistakes, I should have never kept Riley my secret, I should have told her father right away and I don't think that…"

Shane had listened to her, not liking what she was saying: "Mitchie." he said, loud enough for everyone to hear it. The judge didn't mind, this was more than just a trial she had realized, it was a way for them to work out their issues and she wouldn't be the one to stop them from doing it.

Mitchie had stopped in the middle of her sentence and turned around, surprised about how Shane was looking at her. There wasn't anger, there wasn't the hurt, there was… Love.

He approached the front part of the courtroom and after receiving a nod from the judge he entered. He only came to stop mere inches in front of her, kneeling down so he could look directly in her eyes. The brown pools that have followed every of his actions since he had called out her name.

Shane's heart was still bumping and he was nervous, especially as he realized in that moment, that about 50 people where in the room. He wished it would have been more private but now was the time, he had made a decision and he had to tell her right away, he had to know her answer.

He took his hands in hers: "I know we've never been the perfect couple and we've been going through pretty hard times and we're right now in the middle of something I didn't even imagine, experiencing but despite that, despite all this bad stuff there's happiness!" he looked at her, searched her eyes to at least find a small spark of… He didn't know what he was looking for until he found it, that small sparkle of hope, love and need to be loved.

More confident he went on: "There's happiness and call it Riley or family or whatever, we were happy these past few days, we do work out and I will prove you again every day if you…" he took a deep breath: "Marry me?" it was a whisper so she was the only one to hear it. "I don't have a ring, I don't, I haven't really planned this…" he confessed sheepishly when he didn't get an answer right away. He wore that smile, that undefined smile which used to hide his real emotions but Mitchie still saw him, the man she loved, she had never stopped loving but she was also taken by surprise and it took her some time to digest what he just had asked her, here in the courtroom of all places…

The tension in the room was incredible and even though no one had heard Shane's question, they knew what this was about and so they waited, for an answer, for a reaction out of Mitchie.

**A/N: Im in a very cheery holiday mood so im going to be righting all day today. Expect a couple more chapters today. =] REVIEW PLEASE! xp**


	31. Epilogue

Epilogue:

Mitchie had to smile, it was a genuine happy smile and the tears that have formed in her eyes weren't because she was sad. She looked over to Thomas: "I'd say yes, I am happy now."

It was like a sigh of relief was going through the whole courtroom but Mitchie didn't care, neither did she saw Thomas relieved and yet hurt reaction to her answer. All she was paying attention to was the man kneeling in front of her, looking at her questiongly, patiently.

"Shane Gray this is a courtroom for God's sake." she replied to his question trying to look at him in ernest but she failed miserably and her smile grew even wider while she nodded her head. "Yes." she wispered leaving Shane speechless but grinning broadly. He took her in his arms, hold her tightly, kissing her in front of everyone when they suddenly were interupted by the hammer of the judge. But she was smiling while trying to get some peace and silence into her courtroom.

There still had been a lot of things to be sorted out and so Shane was going back to sit next to Jason again. Mitchie was watching him still smiling happily. That's what she had wished for all these years since she had found out that she was pregnant. She had always dreamt of him asking her to marry him but now here in the courtroom, it definetly was unexpected. Actually she never thought he'd really ask her, even after he found out about Riley. That he did was bringing out a happiness she would have never expected to feel, ever...

The trial went on, the judge decided, as proposed by Mitchie's lawyer, that Thomas was going to attend an alcohol recovery programm to get sobber as well as working 15 hours every week for a social programm until his probation officer as well as a psychologist were thinking that he'd be over the drinking problem and ready to face the world alone again.

Mitchie was content with the result of the trial and Thomas seemed to be relieved as well. And Shane... He was just happy that he was able to take HIS soon-to-be-wife in his arms, kiss her and go home with her to get THEIR daughter to tell her the great news that they will be a family, a real family from now on....

The End...for now.

**A/N:I kinda have this idea to do something like the Twilight saga with this. Write 3 more stories that all tie in with this one. Review and tell me if you like this idea because i'v already started on the second story =].**


	32. Story 2 This Was A Crazy Idea

Story Part 2

This Was A Crazy Idea

Riley and Braden were best friends, but grew apart when High School began. Now they've both been dumped by a Vandike, but Braden has a plan to use their old friendship to get his ex and Riley's ex back. Can it be so simple..?

***Main Characters***

_Riley Gray- Daughter of Mitchie & Shane Gray_

_Braden Wilson- Son of pop star Lynn Wilson_

_Tess Kane- Jason & Peggy Kane's daughter & bestfriend of Riley_

_Michael Black- Nate & Caitlyn Black's son & bestfriend of Riley_

_Shawn Vandike- Ex-boyfriend of Riley & brother of Buffy_

_Buffy Vandike- Ex-girlfriend of Braden & sister of Shawn_

_Cam Patterson- Cocky, rich, air-head, surfer boy & bestfriend of Braden_

_Blake Commerse- Friend of Cam & Braden_

_***Small Random Characters***_

_Eliu Diaz- Guy from the wrong side of town that nobody likes_

_Sara Mason- Mayor's daughter who is very annoying_

_Lizzy Smith- Snobby rich bitch_

_Nicole Lee- Cam's girlfriend & a snobby rich bitch_

_Jessy Clark- Really nice girl_


	33. Prologue Unforgetful You

Prologue - Unforgetful You

Riley was bored, beyond bored actually. When her Daddy said she could come with him to the recording studio she had hoped to be helping him play music or sing. The reality was, he'd sat her in the corner with a few essentials and left her to her own devices. That was almost an hour ago, despite the fact he said he'd be less than half that time. It seemed 'short-staffed' meant Daddy was very busy, which made little Riley wonder why she hadn't been permitted to stay home with her mother. Even if she was in bed sick, Riley could have stayed with her, they could've curled up in bed and watched cartoons or something, but apparently that wasn't allowed today, and the little girl had been dragged off to the studio before an argument could break out about it.

So far, Riley had read some more of her latest PopStar Magazigne, written a list of the names of all the staff in the studio that she knew so well, and counted her own teeth three times, somehow coming out with a different number every go around. She was bored, and nine year olds in such a state usually led to uproar in the adult world. Fortunately, the little girl's dull afternoon was about to be at least a little alleviated by the excitement of a new arrival. Suddenly through the doors came a pair of shiny stiletto shoes that had to belong to one of the fancy women from up north. Sure enough, Riley looked up at the Mom-aged red-head with big sunglasses covering most of her face - clearly glamorous and apparently famous as she removed the shades and a couple of interns gasped from behind the desk.

"You know who that is?" Some guy hissed to another, as he looked over blankly at the woman who approached the desk and called for the manager's attention.

Riley lost interest in a moment and turned back around just as a boy appeared in front of her. She was a little surprised to find anyone there, though she hid it well. Even at nine years old she knew all the tricks, hiding emotions and tell-tale signs of lies and such. Daddy taught her well without even meaning too, and she wanted to be a music producer just like him one day.

"Hi" she said to the boy before her with a smile.

"Hey" he grinned right back, "My name is Braden Wilson, what's yours?" he asked her.

Braden, who was seemingly the glamorous woman's son, seemed nice to Riley. She was usually a good judge of people, whether they were her own age or adults. This boy was easily six inches taller than her, but not at all scary or intimidating to Riley. Somehow in that first moment she knew this boy would be her friend.

"Riley Gray" she told him her name, moving her stuff off the chair beside her so he could sit with her, "My Daddy is the head music producer" she told him proudly, pointing at the man behind the desk.

"My Mommy is a pop star" he said, just a proud, nodding towards the woman Shane was talking to, as she agreed to sign an autograph for the interns.

"Do you live in San Obispo?" Riley asked curiously, "I've lived here pretty much all my life"

"Uh-huh" Braden nodded, "We just moved here from LA, my Mom, my Dad, my sister, Becky, and me" he explained, the pair continuing to get to know each other as their parents dealt with the grown up business.

It took about two minutes for Lynn Wilson to pay off her recording fine, and another half hour to conclude her introduction to half the staff eager to meet the pop star. Shane was happy to welcome the new arrival to town and assured her the door to the studio was always open if she needed any help at all. San Obispo was a good town really, not big on music, but he liked to ensure all the residents knew he was there if he was needed.

"I really should be going" Lynn said as she checked her diamond studded watch, "So much to do with the new house still" she smiled as she turned to get Braden's attention.

"Come on now, sweetie, time to go" she urged him, though the boy was less than eager to leave Riley it seemed.

"Mommy, can't Riley come with us?" he begged her with his eyes as much as his words, "You said we could go for pizza and she likes pizza too"

"Oh" Lynn looked at her son and then the girl he'd been talking to, before casting her eyes over to Shane, assuming he would know who the child was.

"Thank you for the kind offer, son" the Shane told Braden with a smile, "but Riley and I have to be getting home real soon"

"She's your daughter?" Lynn checked at which Shane nodded, as the kids looked equally as upset as each other about being parted so soon after meeting, "Well, how about Riley's Daddy and I exchange phone numbers, and we'll arrange a play date or something?" she suggested.

"Sounds good to me" Shane agreed as the adults wrote down their information and exchanged scraps of paper, "We'll be in touch"

"There, all settled" Lynn smiled as she reached for Shane's hand, "We really have to go now, honey, so say goodbye to your friend"

"Bye Riley." he smiled sadly as he was forced to leave.

"Bye Braden." she waved him off, hardly noticing her father as he rounded the desk and sat himself down beside her.

"Five more minutes, kiddo, then we'll blow this juke joint" he said with the appropriate over-acted voice.

"Sounds good, Pa" she replied in kind, giggling as he ruffled her hair and stood up again, "Daddy?" she said before he got more than a step away from her, "I think me and Braden are going to be best friends forever" she declared as he turned to look down at her.

Shane didn't have the heart to tell her it was highly unlikely and entirely too soon to judge such a thing anyway. He couldn't burst her bubble and so he just smiled as he answered her.

"Sure you will, honey"

_To Be Continued..._


	34. One For Sorrow

Chapter 1 - One For Sorrow

7 years later........

"Come on, buckaroos, we're burning daylight here!"

Ms Stafford's voice was as painful to Braden Wilson's ears as anything could be, despite than fact her aim was to make people as happy and peppy as she herself felt. It wasn't the teachers fault. The woman was here to be in charge of the Prom committee and get everybody fired up about the dance. The problem was Braden wasn't really the peppy type, and was ultimately here for the sake of a girl.

The blonde in question was one Miss Buffy Vandike, the object of many a young man's affection, or at the very least the subject of their dirty fantasies. She was wanted and adored by pretty much everyone, so the fact Braden thought he could actually be the one to tame her told others just how much he thought of himself. The son of a pop-star, he was at least in her league, and he himself was desired by many a young woman at San Obispo High. So far, though their paths had crossed, Braden and Buffy had never become an official item. He was working on it, and he felt it was going pretty well. The whole student body were watching the affair unfold before their eyes, especially those who attended the Prom committee meetings.

Across a table from each other, Braden and Buffy would flirt terribly and it was taken as read that they would be going to the Prom together. Some speculated they were already an item, though they'd never been on an official date or actually been seen together in public in that way. Braden had a plan, he didn't share it, but he had it there in his head all the same. Things were going just the way he wanted, he had Buffy Vandike in the palm of his hand, and this whole thing would be sewn up by Prom, or so he thought.

"Oh, I had the perfect idea for that!" the blonde in question yelled excitedly, waving her arm in the air at the teacher, "Seriously, I have pictures of exactly how the decor should go!"

"That's great, Buffy, and I'm sure we'd all be glad to see those pictures" Ms Stafford smiled, "Do you have them with you?"

"They're in my locker, I can run and get them in a jiff" she grinned, hopping up from her seat.

Braden couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm, something Buffy noticed as she shot him a sexy wink over her shoulder and sashayed out of the door. As Ms Stafford went back to brain-storming ideas for various aspects of the Prom, Braden let himself daydream about Miss Vandike and the way that special night could go for the two of them. It just made perfect sense, they were both rich, pretty, and powerful at San Obispo High. It was so obvious that they belonged together, and everybody saw it. Still, Buffy had quite the reputation where guys were concerned and braden was determined to bide his time and do this right. When he got the girl of his dreams, it was going to be for the long haul.

"What do you think, Braden?" Ms Stafford suddenly asked him.

A quick glance at the whiteboard helped out his chances of knowing what the hell he was supposed to be giving an answer on and he shot the teacher a winning smile.

"I think, Ms Stafford, a Prom can never have too many balloons of any colour" he told her, "Besides, with your impeccable taste, I don't see we have any choice than to go with what you pick" he said, sucking up to the nth degree.

Ms Stafford knew what he was doing and just rolled her eyes at his behaviour. He was a good kid, and despite his manner she knew he wasn't quite so fun-loving and chirpy as he liked people to think. His parents had split years ago and the details were dragged through the press. Braden came off all not caring about the world, but Ms Stafford knew he did care about things. She'd have to be blind not to notice, just like the rest of the populance of San Obispo High, that what he was most interested in was Buffy Vandike, not least because his eyes hadn't left the door she'd disappeared through since she went a few minutes before.

"You know, Buffy is taking a while at her locker" she said thoughtfully, "Maybe you could go hurry her along?" she smiled, knowing she was going to get no sense out of either of them until they blew off steam or whatever.

Letting them both out in the hall together might have seemed foolish to other faculty members, but Ms Stafford was all for young love. Besides, they weren't skipping class or anything, just missing five minutes of a meeting that they didn't seem hugely eager to participate in anyway.

Braden was only too happy to be out in the empty hall, looking for Buffy. Any excuse to be alone with her was worth it, and he was just planning what witty thing he would say on reaching her locker when he realised he was already there, and she wasn't. With a frown on his face, Braden ran his hand along the row, recounting the locker doors. Nope, this was definitely Buffy's locker, and yet she was nowhere around as far as he could see. Heading further down the hall, he peered around the corner, but she wasn't there either. In a last ditch attempt, he moved towards the girls bathroom, intending to tap on the door and call her name. His fist did not quite make contact with the wood when he heard something.

"Oh, yeah" said a female voice, followed by crazy giggling and a clatter like something falling to the floor, as Braden felt all the blood drain out of his face.

"Buffy" he said mostly to himself at first, then louder so she would hear, "Buffy!" he called, pushing on the door which took several hard shoves before it finally gave way.

Braden was stunned as he stood, breathing heavily in the open doorway, staring at the girl of his dreams. She was looking less than angelic in this moment, sat between the sinks with her legs wrapped around the waist of Eliu Diaz, a punk from south San Obispo.

"Don't you knock?" the Puerto Rican asked, half way between smirking in victory at almost making the rich boy cry and pissed at being interrupted with his girl.

All Buffy could do was laugh at the situation she found herself in, apparently not at all ashamed or even a little phased about Braden having walked in on her and her latest tumble. Hell, she almost looked proud and that was what hurt most.

It wasn't like they were dating, Braden had no claim on Buffy and no real reason to feel betrayed, but he did. His heart felt like it was breaking in his chest over a girl he had never really had in the first place, and even though he knew that made him all kinds of pathetic, he couldn't help it as he turned away, storming out of the bathroom and down the hall, knowing only that he had to get out of this place, and as drunk as possible.

"Braden!" Buffy called after him, apparently just now having a crisis of conscience, as she ran out of the bathroom, tucking her shirt back into her pants as Eliu followed on behind at a more sedate pace.

If the blonde's idea had been to ensure Braden wouldn't spill her dirty little secret, she'd made a big mistake. His silence would be worth less than nothing as more than one person milled around the hall, catching sight of the obvious love triangle. They'd put two and two together and made the correct four in seconds. Before the day was out, the entire school would be oh so very aware of what had happened here, and both Buffy and Eliu knew it.

Braden saw nothing and heard no-one as he moved through the quad like a man possessed. Several people noticed his mood but had no idea what it was about yet. They would find out, given time, and probably not that much time as other students followed him out through the doors, whispering about the latest gossip to hit San O.

"Whoa, I guess something serious is happenin' there." Michael Black said more to himself than to Tess as they joined their friend Riley at the lunch table, eyes fixed on Braden as he shoved his friend Cam aside and strode off towards his bright yellow Mustang.

"Looks like." The computer geek pushed her pink streaked hair behind her ear as she sat down, "How was basketball practice?" she asked conversationally, as Michael picked up his fork.

"Don't even ask me, girl." He said, shaking his head, "The coach is riding me hard, but the rest of the team, man, they're not even as good as me." He smirked just a little at his own pride that he felt he had every right to possess - he really was that good!

"Good to know you're being modest about it." Tess rolled her eyes, scooping up a forkful of whatever was on her plate before looking down and realising she wasn't so sure she wanted to put it in her mouth.

"We all have our strengths, right?" Michael shrugged his shoulders, "You fix computers, I play ball, and Riley... she's got the sickle wit" he said with a smirk as he nudged her with his elbow.

It was only then as the two looked towards their friend that they realised something was wrong. Though her fork was in her hand, Riley wasn't eating, only stabbing half-heartedly at her non-descript food, as if it were all she had the strength to do.

"Riley?" Tess said looking concerned, after all, Miss Torres was one of her best friends these days, "Is something wrong?"

"Shawn broke up with me" the Riley said simply, letting her fork drop onto the plate with a hollow sound.

All Michael and Tess could do was stare for a moment. Riley and Shawn always seemed so solid and in love, they'd been together so long, no-one ever expected to hear they'd broken up. Still, Tess had to admit as she thought it over, Riley did spend more time with her and Michael than with Shawn lately.

"Apparently we don't have anything in common anymore" she sniffed, "There was some stuff about growing apart and... It's over" she said with some random hand gesture and a half-smile that was entirely fake and empty.

"Damn, I'm sorry, Riles" Michael tried to sympathise, though crying girls were not easy for a guy best friend to deal with.

Unfortunately, Tess was feeling just about as awkward as he was. She had no romantic experiences to draw on, and she was as uncomfortable with the tears of others as any boy might've been.

"Yeah, I mean... Are you gonna be okay?" she said, hoping that was the right thing to say and guessing maybe not when Riley shook her head, setting free further hot tears that rolled unchecked down her cheeks.

"I have to go" the torn girl said suddenly, up off the bench in an instant and bolting into the school building, crying like a baby.

* * * * *

This wasn't how her life was supposed to turn out, Riley thought, as she lie on her bed, alone in the house because her father was working late. Things used to be so different, just a few short years ago. She didn't have a boyfriend then but she also hadn't cared too much about male attention, since both her father and her old best friend had doted on her. Speaking of best friends, someone different had held that title back then too, someone who had suffered today much like she had. Of course, she didn't care about Braden, even though it wasn't entirely his fault they weren't best friends anymore. Somehow they'd just grown apart for one reason or another, and neither ever bothered to try to change it, even if they thought they could.

Right now, Braden Wilson wasn't really the man on Riley's mind. No, that slot was filled by Shawn Vandike. Technically, they never should've been dating in the first place. He was rich, she was far from it, just the daughter of a washed out pop star who turned to producing and a mother who's always home stuck with depression over things of their past involving Riley's old step dad. Riley felt she'd been lucky to have such a dreamboat of a guy as Shawn choose her for a girlfriend, but the year long affair was now over, and the only reason Riley could come up with was that the young Vandike had grown bored of his taste of the 'wild side', and wished to go back to hanging out with his own kind.

Maybe that was why she and Braden had fallen apart years ago, because he was destined to be a major player in the North San O crowd at San Obispo High, whilst she was always going to be a have-not from south San O. Perhaps there was more to it than that, especially since the conclusion didn't reflect too well on either friend. Whatever the reasons, it was done, her old friendship years ago, and her latest relationship now. Riley was resigned to the fact she was just going to have to pick herself up, dust herself down, and start over again, just like so many times before.

Wiping tear tracks from her face, Riley took a deep breath and got up off the bed. She was headed to the bathroom, planning to take a shower, get herself dressed up and head over to pick up Tess and Michael for some kind of night out. She just needed to take her mind off dumb men and how they hurt her right now. Unfortunately, her plan was scuppered when she got to the doorway and stopped at the sound of her cell ringing. In two minds whether to go back and answer it or not, Riley considered it might be her Dad and he would only worry if she didn't pick up, Heading back to her bed with a sigh, she sat down on the edge and picked up her phone. The display said 'Unknown Caller' causing her to frown as she clicked the button and accepted the call anyway.

"Hello?" she said, a little apprehensively.

"Rye!" came the over-loud reply that nearly took out her ear-drum; however, there was no doubt in her mind now who was on the other end of the line, since only one person ever used that name for her.

"Braden?" she said with surprise evident in her tone, "How did you get this number?"

"I remembered it" he told her as if it ought to have been obvious, "How you been?" he asked her then, making Riley frown harder.

She couldn't understand why he felt the sudden need to call her, other than the fact he was obviously drunk. His question ignored and forgotten in an instant, she instead asked what she wanted to know.

"What do you want, Braden?" she snapped, "Sympathy that buffy doesn't love you? Sorry, not going to happen" she guessed and shot him down in one, quite proud of herself until she heard the painful laugh escape his lips.

"You've gotten hard, Gray" he told her, actually making her feel bad.

Back when they were friends, the only time he ever called her by her last name was when he was mad at her, on those few occasions when they'd fallen out over the dumb stuff kids have fights over. Still, it hurt to be reminded that they were at war these days, or at least lived on either side of a divide.

"Why did you call, Braden?" she said with a sigh as she pulled herself up onto her bed and lay down, staring at the ceiling once again.

"I heard about you and Dike-man breaking up" he told her.

"We didn't break up" she said too quietly, "He dumped me"

It hurt to admit it and she wasn't even sure why she was sharing since it was a long time since she and Braden had been any kind of friends. Strangely, it still came naturally. Lying here like this with the phone in her hand, twisting a shortened lock of now blonde hair around her finger, it was all so familiar to her.

"Want to make him pay?" said Braden's voice in her ear, "I was thinking, how about you and me make them _both_ pay?"

"Both?" Riley frowned, not understanding.

"Uh-huh" he nodded, though that she could not hear of course, "We could bring the Vandikes to their knees" he chuckled, "All you have to do is be my Prom date"

That evoked a spontaneous outburst of laughter that Riley fought hard to control but lost the battle for a full five minutes. She could hardly take in what Braden had just said to her. The two of them going to Prom together was crazy, more than crazy, it was certifiably insane!

"And as the hilarity subsides" he sighed, waiting for her fit of giggles to end, "You want to give me an answer?"

"To what?" Riley asked as she finally caught her breath, "That was some kind of ridiculous joke to cheer me up, right?" she checked, now a little worried that her ex-best friend was being as serious as he sounded all of a sudden.

"No joke, Rye" he told her, "Come on, it'll be fun, you and me... how it used to be" he said, tone soft and nostalgic in Riley's ear as she listened a moment, forgetting to speak when silence came, "Rye?" he prompted then.

"Sober up, Braden" she said sadly, mostly because for a moment she'd actually considered the idea before realising his drunken state was all that had fuelled it, "The world will look clearer if not a little less simple in the morning" she warned him before hanging up from the call and shutting off her cell, just in case he got re-dial happy.

With a sigh, Riley threw the phone on her bed and got to her feet again, making it all the way to the bathroom this time. Pausing by the sink, she gazed into the mirror above, a stare off with her own reflection as she thought over what Braden had said. She was so different from the girl who had been his best friend, at least she thought she was, and he was certainly a different guy. Things had moved on, they had both moved on, to different friends, boyfriends, girlfriends... They couldn't suddenly start hanging out again, pretending to be chummy, going to Prom together... could they?

Riley didn't want to think about it, and yet could not think about anything else. Her mood had shifted dramatically with the sound of Braden's voice on the phone. Her need or want to go out and party was gone. Instead she would stay home, get an early night, sleep off a day she'd rather forget. She doubted it would be easy.

_To Be Continued..._


End file.
